Sustainability in Procurement Fellows (SPF) Program
President Obama in the Executive Order on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance (EO 13514), committed the federal government to leading by example, in making ambitious and broad improvements in the overall sustainability of the federal government. GSA understood the importance of procurement in meeting this requirement. As a result, in February 2011, the Sustainability in Procurement Fellows (SPF) program was launched.
The SPF program is a professional development program that provides employees in-depth training on sustainability. The program covers regulatory requirements, industry trends, systems thinking concepts, and provides hands on sustainability project experience. As part of the fellowship, each employee will receive training in relevant sustainability in procurement topics, perform substantive work on sustainability initiatives, and assume an active role in the governmentwide sustainability community.
This intensive program aims to empower its alumni to serve as tomorrow’s federal sustainability leaders and enable them to serve as knowledge resources for staff governmentwide. A background in sustainability, environment and/or procurement is not required. However, successful candidates are individuals with the ability to communicate clearly and concisely, think critically, work collaboratively, and hold themselves and their work to a high standard of excellence. Successful fellows are those who have a desire to leverage procurement to increase the sustainability of the federal government, and be persistent in achieving this goal.
In order for fellows to gain the professional knowledge and experience necessary to become sustainability change agents, they are expected to:
- Work on at least two projects
- Read a book a month and lead one weekly book discussion
- Participate in various interagency meetings by phone, and engage in work groups as appropriate
- Engage in web training exercises
- Actively engage with Fellows from the current and past cohorts on sustainability in procurement topics/initiatives
- Participate in two mandatory training seminars in the Washington, DC area
For more information, please contact nancy.gillis@gsa.gov
