9:00 AM - 6:00 PM Eastern
Stakeholder engagement and strategic value demonstration are crucial skills for procurement professionals, fostering trust and success in their roles. NIGP’s Core Certificate: Foundations of Strategy and Policy is a comprehensive activity-based learning experience focusing on legal, ethical, and strategic aspects of public procurement. This course equips learners with the necessary tools to navigate governmental entities effectively, enhancing their procurement functions. By mastering these skills, professionals boost their career growth, gaining confidence in executing procurement tasks aligned with legal and ethical standards.
Course Date + Time
May 7 + 8, 2026 at 9:00am - 6:00pm ET - learners must participate in both days in full to earn their course certificate
Instructor
Emma Sears, CPPO, NIGP-CPP, CPPB
Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion of the certificate, the certificate holder will be able to:
- Participate effectively in strategic planning activities.
- Advise internal and external clients on the strategic function of procurement.
- Identify the differences between Law, Regulation and Policy, and Common Law.
- Manage risk through proper identification and mitigation.
- Operate with transparency.
- Select the relevant procurement legislation, regulation, and laws that apply to the work.
- Recognize and manage ethical and legal issues.
- Establish a performance assessment plan to ensure that all stakeholders are complying with the procurement as established in the contract.
This offering is targeted to individuals who meet or exceed the following professional demographics:
- Entry-level public procurement and central warehouse professionals who serve as assistants, coordinators, buyers, or equivalent functions within their respective entities.
- Non-procurement managers and supervisors who are responsible for either the procurement function or staff who provide procurement functions under delegated authority.
- Professionals who are employed by governing entities and special authorities (such as K-12 and higher education, publicly-owned utilities, transportation providers, and other publicly-funded or created organizations) that either serve within or manage the procurement function.
- Suppliers or representatives of suppliers seeking to understand the public procurement function from a holistic level, including the policies, standards, and procedures by which public entities must function.
Completion Requirements
Includes pre-class assignments at least one week in advance of the course and post-class follow up within one week.
In order to successfully complete the NIGP Foundations of Strategy and Policy Core Certificate, learners must:
- Complete any pre-work materials provided prior to the course start date.
- Attend and participate in the entirety of the instructional event.
- Complete the post-course evaluation survey.
Competency Alignment
This certificate is designed as an exercise-based learning experience and is tied to NIGP’s Public Procurement Competency Framework. Upon completion of the certificate requirements, learners will have demonstrated the successful knowledge, skills, and abilities in alignment with the following Level 1 competencies:
- Mission, Public Benefit, Advocacy, Impact, and Placement
- Enabling Regulations & Compliance
- Ethics, Integrity, Transparency
- Legislation & Legal Environment.
OPBA Member Early Bird Rate [Mar 17 - Apr 17]: $545.79
OPBA Member Regular Rate [Apr 18 - Apr 30]: $654.27
OPBA Non-Member Rate [Mar 17 - Apr 30]: $767.27
*please note, course registration fees are set at a special rate for this pilot
Registration
This course requires a minimum of 8, maximum of 24, learners to move ahead. There will be a $25 late fee applied to join this course after the registration deadline. Please email members@opba.ca to request a late registration.
Cancellation Policy: important note, this pilot course has a different refund policy than Principles/PPS courses.
Registration and payment must be received 24 hours prior to the course start date. After this time, registrations will be based on space availability. A full refund, less a $75 administrative fee will be given for cancellations made in writing 31+ days prior to the seminar date by emailing members@opba.ca. No refunds are given for cancellations received within 24 hours of the course start date. There are no refunds for no-shows. If the course is cancelled for any reason, OPBA's liability is limited to the registration fee only. Attendee substitutions within the same agency may be completed with email notification to OPBA sent more than 24 hours prior to the course start time.
Last day to register: April 30, 2026
| 5/7/2026 - 5/8/2026 |    |