Speakers

Lisa Mealoy is the Chief Operating Officer for the Community College League of California. She
oversees the District Services Division which includes Energy Services, its Solar and Storage and
Direct Access Electricity Program. She has been with the League for six years.

Liz Avila-Delgado, who is passionate about creating equitable access to higher education, joined the Foundation for California Community Colleges in August 2021 as the Engagement Specialist for the Vision Resource Center. Through her support and coaching of systemwide event and community moderators, Liz ensures that the 140,000+ Vision Resource Center users have access to resources and professional development opportunities. Liz has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 8 years, having worked at a nonprofit healthcare clinic in North San Diego County prior to joining the Foundation. Liz is a San Diego native and earned her bachelor’s from Cal State San Marcos.

Majd Askar is the Vice President of Business Services at Moreno Valley College (MVC). At MVC, Askar leads various college operations, including facilities and grounds maintenance, safety ​operations, food services, bookstore, campus operations, building security systems, college technology services and initiatives, grant support, and assures compliance with financial/business and contractual obligations. Askar serves as a member of the senior leadership team, ensuring that the College achieves its strategic and operational goals, while maintaining the commitment to shared governance.

Marie Hampton is a dedicated, results-driven, and proactive Procurement and Materials professional with more than 25 years of experience in the public sector. She is well-versed in the strategic planning, contract management, risk management, project management, supervision, and development of procurement activities. Marie has spent her entire career thriving in the public procurement space; creating and implementing programs, policies and procedures for strategic alignment with the organization’s values and goals.

Mark B. Logan, Director of Purchasing and Contract Administration at Cerritos College, has over 20 years of experience and expertise in complex public procurement and contract management. In his current role, he is responsible for contracting, purchasing, public works, warehouse operations, mail, and telecommunications. Prior to joining Cerritos College, Mark worked at Chaffey College where he managed the purchasing services department for the college’s three-campus district; the Clark County Housing Authority, where he was fully responsible for the development of the agency’s contracts administration department; and Professional Community Management, administering a wide range of contracts for a private planned community.

Leadership contributions to the public procurement profession include serving on the FCCC CollegeBuys Advisory Group, Universal Public Procurement Certification Counsel (UPPCC) Board of Examiners (BOE) as a public procurement subject matter expert (SME), various board member roles for the National Institute for Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) California chapter, past co-chair for the Southern California Community College Purchasing Association (SCCCPA), delivering various public procurement presentations and workshops, and was awarded the inaugural 2015 Southern California Procurement Professional of the Year award.

Mark holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from CSU, Long Beach, Graduate Center for Public Policy and Administration, and has also earned the professional designations of NIGP Certified Procurement Professional (NIGP-CPP), Certified Public Purchasing Officer (CPPO), Certified Purchasing Manager (C.P.M.), Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB), and Accredited Purchasing Practitioner (A.P.P.).

Mina Hernandez is the Director of Purchasing and Material Management at MiraCosta Community College District. She provides innovative leadership at MiraCosta which includes contracts administration and overseeing procurement, warehouse, mailroom and the copy center operations. Prior to MiraCosta, she was the Executive Director of General Services for West Valley-Mission Community College District. Mina is a statewide leader. She led the efforts in creating the Purchasing Guidebook and Purchasing-Facilities Guidebook, which serves as best practice guides for the California Community College System. Mina is a frequent presenter on topics related to innovation in procurement and contract management. She has led many efforts to streamline and modernize procurement practices at the various higher education institutions she has worked. In March 2021, she was selected by PlanetBids as an awardee for the annual Breaking Barriers award. In October 2021, she was awarded the CHEC Focus on Efficiency Award for leading the Purchasing-Facilities Guidebook, along with being awarded with her team for their modernization efforts with MiraCosta’s procurement processes during COVID-19. Mina graduated with a Master of Administration from Northern Arizona University in 2012. She has a multifaceted background, having worked in higher education administration for fifteen years and in the private sector as a legal professional for over a decade.

Nick Newkirk is the Purchasing and Contracts Manager for the South Orange County Community College District (SOCCCD), where he has served since 2018. Prior to his current position with SOCCCD, he served as the Director of Purchasing for Perris Union High School District for four years. Nick previously served as chair and co-founder of the Riverside County Purchasing Collaborative and received the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Region XIX Business Services Administrator of the Year Award for 2016-17. At the age of 17, he started his career in school business as a student worker within the accounting apprenticeship program for Murrieta Valley Unified School District, where he stayed and worked as a classified staff member within the purchasing and payroll departments for 14 years.

Patty Samford has been the Purchasing Supervisor at San Joaquin Delta Community College in Stockton, CA since 2018. Patty has led her team through many initiatives, most notably the implementation of Oracle financial system and Planet Bids online bidding system. Although Patty’s term as co-chair for the Northern California Community College Purchasing group ends May 1, 2022, she plans to continue to be an active participant in the California Community College Purchasing community.

Priya Jerome has over 23 years of combined private and public sector experience in managing and overseeing complex supply chain activities globally. Working in the private sector, Priya honed valuable skills in business process improvements to drive overall efficacies and cost savings across the entire supply chain. Over the past 12 years, she has managed the Procurement, Contracting, Central Services and Risk Management activities at two California community college districts, where she successfully implemented web based, fully integrated e-procurement systems and contracts management systems. These implementations were widely recognized for delivering cost, time, process, and productivity efficiencies. Priya joined the South Orange County Community College District (SOCCCD) team as the Executive Director of Procurement, Central Services, and Risk Management in 2018 where she continues to passionately focus her endeavors in providing the best possible educational experience to all students through the services her division provides. She leads a large, centralized division supporting two colleges and the District with a deep understanding of distinctive business needs in education, high currency in codes, statutes and regulations, and a unique private sector perspective for customer service and process improvements. In any given year she oversees an average of 1,500 contracts, 3,600 purchase orders, jointly valued over $210 million and over 25 large publicly procured bids and RFQ&Ps. Priya’s leadership and commitment to excellence has been recognized in the various personal and institutional awards/recognitions she has won. In 2019 she was recognized as the Administrator of the Year at SOCCCD and in 2020 she was recognized as the Southern California Procurement Professional of the Year. In 2021 her District won the much-coveted Orange County Turning Red Tape to Red Carpet Award for Incorporating Innovative Technology for converting SOCCCD into a Fully Online Bidding, Contracting and Public Procurement Organization an effort she spearheaded from start to successful completion. Priya is active in several state organizations in support of community college procurement and risk management initiatives. She is the Vice President of the board for the Protected Insurance Program for Schools and Community Colleges (PIPS), a joint powers authority which is responsible for workers’ compensation insurance claims. She is the Vice Chair of the Underwriting Committee for the Statewide Association of Community Colleges (SWACC), which is responsible for property and liability insurance. She is also a select member of the CollegeBuys program (Foundation for CA Community Colleges, an arm of the CA Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office) advisory group that contributes system-wide towards leveraging combined/streamlining purchasing powers, total cost of ownership, and shared best practices. Within the advisory group, she additionally contributes as a co-chair in the Legislative and Policy Workgroup. Priya holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Queensland Institute of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.

Rebekah Kalleen is a partner at Murdoch, Walrath & Holmes and a legislative advocate for education entities including the Coalition for Adequate School Housing, the Community College Facility Coalition, and the County School Facilities Consortium. She has over fifteen years of experience in the State advocacy sector, helping clients from small associations to large companies navigate the State budget, legislative, and regulatory processes. She previously served as a consultant to school districts participating in the State School Facility Program, assisting them with accessing state grant dollars for facility projects. Rebekah has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Since 2006, Ms. Diaz has made it a mission to work with every PB System™ client to ensure that all users are trained to get maximum usage of the system while complying with their internal purchasing guidelines. Working with everyone from small and local business advocate groups to assigned personnel at large agencies, Ms. Diaz is also responsible for on-site training, refresher training, webinars, and surveys to better serve all PlanetBids clients.

Prior to joining PlanetBids, Ms. Diaz worked in the San Jose State University (SJSU) Purchasing Department. She has earned a long list of accolades, including the SARA Gold award from the Dept. of General Services for being the top Small Business and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (SB/DVBE) Advocate of the year, and 3 No Matter What Awards in Excellence and 6 You Make the Difference Awards from SJSU. In 2006, Ms. Diaz was the first recipient of the Most Outstanding BidsOnline™ user award at the 1st Annual PlanetBids Users Conference, proof of her 360° knowledge of the PB System™.

Rodney Taylor’s leadership journey spans 30 years in education beginning in 1991 as the Food Services Director for San Mateo Union High School District/ Compton Unified School District, while most recently retiring as Food and Nutrition Services Director, for the Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, the 10th largest school in the United States.
Mr. Taylor takes a vision and makes it reality through sound strategy development. He inspires innovative ideas and concepts, and provides avenues to ensure change is managed effectively. He is an inspirational leader who tells stories that inspire action while at the same time ensures that stakeholders remain engaged in the process and are well-supported when change impacts their daily lives. He believes open and honest communication is essential to maintaining support for the strategy. As a seasoned consultant, Rodney has provided organizations in the public and private sectors with practical strategies that enable change management as an enterprise business capability. Respected as a credible voice in decision making, strategic thinking, innovation, and establishing governance boundaries.

Rodney has served on numerous boards such as the California State Board of Food and Agriculture, the University of California (UC0 President’s Advisory Commission for Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the Network for a Healthy California’s Executive Committee.

Rodney holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration from California State University, Dominguez Hills.