Lexington, KY – The National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) is proud to announce the recipients of its Procurement Impact and Academic Collaboration Award, presented at the NASPO Annual Conference on October 1, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois.

Presented in partnership with the National Association of State Chief Administrators (NASCA) and the National Governors Association (NGA), the Procurement Impact Award recognizes a project or state initiative that resulted in collaborative efforts between state procurement offices and state departments/agencies.

This year’s winner is the State of Idaho for their project, Leveraging the Power of Procurement to Support Behavioral Health in Idaho. This award recognizes collaborative efforts between state procurement offices and agencies. Idaho’s transformative 2021 Idaho Behavioral Health Plan (IBHP) procurement redesigned behavioral health service delivery by combining previously separate Medicaid and non-Medicaid funding, introducing comprehensive crisis care, and transferring state services to managed care. With Governor Little’s backing and $50 million in proposed investments, the Division of Purchasing provided strategic leadership to manage this complex, high-visibility initiative.

As NASPO continues to elevate the public procurement profession, collaboration and partnership with local colleges and universities become essential. The importance of recognizing these efforts led to last year’s Academic Collaboration Recognition, and NASPO is pleased to announce the inaugural Academic Collaboration Award in 2025. This award recognizes outstanding partnerships that build bridges between academia and government, creating pathways for students to discover fulfilling careers in public sector work.

This year’s winner was Massachusetts & Northeastern Burnes Center for Social Change. Massachusetts’ Operational Services Division (OSD) partnered with Northeastern University’s Burnes Center for Social Change to create the Commonwealth’s first embedded academic-government AI collaboration. This public-interest initiative focuses on responsible AI development for procurement functions, emphasizing co-design, scalability, and workforce development beyond typical vendor pilots. The partnership produced two AI tools for Massachusetts: a procurement chatbot trained on state-specific regulations and a generative contract assistant for legal review and negotiations. Congratulations to all the finalists and winners!

About NASPO: NASPO is a non–profit association dedicated to advancing public procurement through leadership, excellence, and integrity. It is made up of the directors of the central purchasing offices in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories of the United States. NASPO is an organization that helps its members achieve success as public procurement leaders through the promotion of best practices, education, professional development, research, and innovative procurement strategies. www.naspo.org

Media Contact:
Kate Davila, Creative Accounts Director
National Association of State Procurement Officials
kdavila@naspo.org