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    Increasing Vendor Diversity in St. Paul, Minnesota

    April 13, 2017

    Through the What Works Cities Initiative, GPL Assistant Director Jen North and Senior Advisor Greg Wass worked with the city of St. Paul, Minnesota to engage vendors, increase the number of vendor responses, and improve competition. Read more about how the city is building on these efforts to increase its vendor diversity and better understand why it wasn’t adequately reaching small, women- or minority-owned businesses. Read more.

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    Governing: How Cities Can Get Strategic About Procurement

    July 18, 2018

    In her latest commentary for Governing’s Better, Faster, Cheaper blog, Program Director Hanna Azemati describes the GPL’s work with the city of Louisville, KY to establish a strategic procurement system. According to Louisville’s director of purchasing, this system has helped the city “elevate the importance of procurement, build trust, and earn credibility” by prioritizing, structuring, evaluating, and managing critical contracts more effectively. ...

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    NH Department of Health and Human Services Press Release: NH DHHS To Receive Technical Support From Harvard University’s Kennedy School Government Performance Lab

    January 1, 2018

    NH Department of Health and Human Services Press Release: NH DHHS To Receive Technical Support From Harvard University’s Kennedy School Government Performance Lab

    https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/media/pr/2018/06142018-tech-support-dcyf.htm

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    Bridging the Gap Between Residents and Opportunity in Charleston, South Carolina

    March 5, 2019

    The GPL worked with the City of Charleston, South Carolina to draft a results-driven RFP to identify a developer to build a high-quality, affordable housing on City land. By involving multiple departments in planning and writing the RFP as well as engaging with over 100 key stakeholders — including city staff, community representatives, developers, and nonprofits — the resulting procurement...

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    City of Portland: Results-Driven Contracting for Technology

    October 26, 2020
     The City of Portland worked with Harvard Kennedy School's Government Performance Lab to make practical changes to a critical procurement process, establishing a more strategic approach to technology contracting. Via video conference, city staff from Procurement Services and the Bureau of Technology Services Check share their experience applying results-driven contracting strategies to improve the City's technology procurement process.... Read more about City of Portland: Results-Driven Contracting for Technology

    Long Beach Asks Vendors to Share Feedback in Survey

    October 15, 2021
    The City of Long Beach is asking past, current and prospective vendors to participate in a Vendor Engagement Survey to help guide procurement improvements. The survey is one result of a comprehensive evaluation and remaking of the City's procurement systems and processes, conducted in collaboration with the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab (GPL). The goal is to make procurement more efficient, consistent and forward-looking, so that all vendors are better positioned to... Read more about Long Beach Asks Vendors to Share Feedback in Survey

    Four ways to turn procurement into a force for change

    July 7, 2022
    Talk to mayors about how their city halls buy goods and services, and you are likely to hear a litany of complaints. Yet procurement is one of the most important and powerful tools local leaders have at their disposal. Just about everything cities do, from paving roads to housing the homeless, involves purchasing goods and services. From the GPL's director Jeffrey Liebman in Bloomberg Cities, read ... Read more about Four ways to turn procurement into a force for change

    We Are Commons: Tackling Homelessness in Seattle with Data-Driven Tools

    July 13, 2018

    "The city of Seattle, Washington has been changing the way they deal with homeless populations, and gathering data to drive some evidenced-based solutions. Now, with clear incentives and data collection, employees have a path forward for helping the homeless." Journalist Rebecca Gale discusses the GPL’s What Works Cities project to improve homelessness outcomes through results-driven contracting in Seattle. ...

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