Welcome to the Winter 2017-2018 edition of CPO News! There are lots of stories to cover today, so grab yourself a cup of coffee and ease into the weekend with us. Got any procurement news to share? Drop us a line at editor at cporising dot com. Thanks, and enjoy!

Oyekanmi Named SVP of Global Sourcing at Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group

Late last year, Adrian Oyekanmi, a financial and sourcing professional who has worked in the hospitality management industry for more than 20 years, was promoted to Senior Vice President of Global Strategic Sourcing at the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. Oyekanmi had served as Vice President of Global Strategic Sourcing when he was hired by the hotel chain in April 2017. He had worked for Starwood Hotels and Resorts for nearly 18 years, starting as a financial controller and progressing to Director and Regional Director of Finance before transitioning to Supply Chain. In his new role, Oyekanmi will lead global strategic sourcing efforts, including strategic supplier relationship building, contract negotiations, and vendor compliance for the hotel chain across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Oyekanmi earned a Bachelors degree from UWC Atlantic College in the UK and a Bachelor of Science in Building / Construction Management from Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria.

Carnival CPO Among 100 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America

Also late last year, Black Enterprise magazine named Julia M. Brown, Carnival Cruise Line’s first CPO, as one of the 100 most powerful executives in corporate America. She joins Carnival CEO, Arnold Donald, on the prestigious list, both of whom were selected from a pool of more than 1000 publicly traded companies with gross revenues of a billion dollars or more who have a significant influence in their company or field. Brown has over 25 years of sourcing and procurement experience to the role, most recently serving as CPO at Mondelez International, which split from Kraft Foods in 2012; CPO and Senior Vice President at Kraft Foods; and CPO and VP of corporate procurement and contract manufacturing at Clorox. Other roles include sourcing stints at Diageo, Gillette, and Procter and Gamble where she began her career. Brown earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada.

Susan Bruce Named Director of Purchasing for New Bedford, Mass.

Christmas came early for Susan Bruce last December when she was named as the new Director of Purchasing for the City of New Bedford, Massachusetts. She will oversee city-wide contract negotiation, vendor management, and purchasing, and report directly to the city’s Chief Financial Officer. The appointment is just the latest for the life-long public procurement professional, having served within state, local, and county contracting and procurement organizations for her entire career. Bruce most recently served as contract and procurement manager for the nearby town of Cohasset, after serving as a procurement analyst and contract specialist with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the City of Chelsea’s CPO, and as a procurement officer with the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office. Bruce earned a degree from Suffolk University and is a Massachusetts Certified Public Purchasing Official.

Vlasic ‘Snaps’ into CPO Role at Australian Government DTA

Anthony Vlasic, an Australian sourcing and procurement professional, also received an early Christmas present last month when he was selected as the Chief Procurement Officer for the Australian Government’s Digital Transformation Agency. In this role, the first permanent CPO role for the IT management agency, Vlasic will oversee commodity IT procurement for the Australian government. Vlasic had been serving as Director of Strategy and Alliance Services at Westpac when he received the nod, capping ten years of sourcing and procurement experience he picked up during his tenure there. Vlasic joined Westpac in May 2007 as Head of Strategy following a two-year stint with the Boston Consulting Group. Vlasic earned a Bachelor of Engineering followed by a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of New South Wales.

Lisa Martin Named New CPO of GlaxoSmithKline

Amidst an executive shakeup at GlaxoSmithKline last month, Lisa Martin was named its newest CPO and Senior Vice President after being lured away from Teva Pharmaceuticals. Martin’s appointment marks more than 20 years of executive-level experience in pharmaceutical procurement and supply chain management, having begun her tenure in the industry with Warner Lambert in 1997. Before that, Martin had been a Vice President at Sony Pictures Entertainment. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts from Long Island University.

Hernandez Appointed CPO and VP of Supply Chain at Broward Health

Closing out the year is news out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where Broward Health has appointed Jorge F. Hernandez as its newest CPO and VP of Supply Chain. He will oversee both centralized and decentralized operational areas of materials services, and ensure the consistency of supply chain processes across Broward’s system. Hernandez has more than 20 years of healthcare procurement and supply chain experience under his belt, having worked for hospital and healthcare systems up and down the Eastern Seaboard. In his most recent role, Hernandez was the Assistant Vice President and Senior Director of Supply Chain for Tenet Healthcare’s Eastern Region Coastal Division hospitals.

Bill Michels to Lead CIPS Operations in the Americas

Longtime procurement expert and “friend of the site,” Bill Michels, began 2018 on a high note after being tapped to lead the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply’s (CIPS)’ Americas operations. In his new role as VP of Operations, Americas, Bill will “head up the expansion in the Americas to support the growing demand from CIPS’ existing client base and new organizations looking to develop their procurement standards and capabilities.” Readers may recall that Bill was featured a couple of times on CPO Rising and has spoken at our CPO Rising Procurement Executive Summits here in Boston. Until recently, Bill had served as the CEO of Aripart Consulting, based out of Scottsdale, Arizona, where he would advise clients on a host of procurement, sourcing, and supply chain management challenges and strategies. Congratulations, Bill!

Former Atlanta CPO Receives 27 Month Prison Sentence for Taking Bribes

And now for a bit of somber news. Last week, Adam Smith, the former CPO for the City of Atlanta, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes from city contractors (click here and here to read our prior coverage of this story). Smith’s relatively lenient prison sentence followed a plea deal and news that Smith had secretly recorded conversations with his conspirators, raising the specter that Smith is now or has been a cooperating witness in the FBI’s investigation into widespread corruption within the City of Atlanta.

Australia Looks to Adopt Modern Slavery Protections

Following the release of its final report in early December, an Australian parliamentary inquiry recommended that the Australian government pass legislation to protect victims of modern slavery and help to curtail the practice at home and abroad. The report, “Hidden in Plain Sight,” detailed the scope and depth of modern slavery in the world and in Australia, in particular, and listed recommendations for the government moving forward. They include passing Australia’s version of the UK Modern Slavery Act, but going several steps further by applying it to businesses with revenues of $50 million or more and mandating that their supply chains are slavery free and or they are not profiting from the practice; establishing a commissioner on modern slavery, instituting a compensation system for victims, and penalizing companies and individuals that run afoul of the law. Thus far, attempts to lass legislation remain largely at the grassroots level, but with the publication of the inquiry’s report, the government could be spurred to take concrete action to pass legislation.

RELATED ARTICLES

NEW Survey: The State of Procurement 2018 – Age of Intelligence

Carnival Corporation Appoints Julia M. Brown as First Chief Procureent Officer

Meet the Speakers of CPO Rising 2017! Welcoming Back Bill Michels

Former Atlanta CPO Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy, Accepted Bribes

Tagged in: Ardent Team, Chief Procurement Officer, CPO, CPO News, CPO Rising Summit, CPO Shop Talk, CPOs on the Rise, People, Sourcing, Suppliers, Technology