Meet the RFP Dream Team

Mike Thornton is a strategic procurement leader with over 30 years of experience as a procurement practitioner and practice lead with Civic Initiatives, LLC. Mike holds his CPPO certification.  Mike has served as a trusted advisor and educator on public procurement best practices. Mike has industry experience in all procurement and contracting methods, including electric utility related procurement. With in-depth experience in system implementations and business process analysis, Mike applies innovative solutions to improve processes and deliver value. Mike collaborates with leadership and staff to develop and deploy strategic and tactical solutions to improve the procurement process, with a focus on leveraging technology when it is beneficial to improve the procurement experience.

At Civic Initiatives, Mike guides and provides expertise to public sector procurement organizations supporting all areas of their procurement process.

Stéphanie Dion is a senior public procurement leader with 20 years of experience with various types of public entities in Canada. She is the Procurement Manager for Canoe Procurement of Canada. She holds NIGP-CPP certification.  Stéphanie was previously the Director, Procurement Centre of Excellence with the Government of Manitoba.  Stéphanie graduated university with a teaching degree and has been involved with professional development in various capacities including the RFPDreamTeam. She has been an active volunteer and advisor with professional associations since 2012 and was recently appointed as a member of the NIGP Certification Commission and Talent council. She contributed a few articles to Supply Pro Magazine and is the recipient of NIGP’s 2021 Buyer of the Year Award. 

Victor Leamer has over 35 years of public procurement experience at the county, state department, and state-wide levels. Victor teaches Sourcing in the Public Sector and the Core Certificate: Foundations in Strategy and Policy for NIGP (virtual), the seven-part RFP Learning Lab series, and has presented NIGP webinars on protests, evaluating responsiveness in bids, virtual leadership, and contract price adjustments.  Victor was appointed to the NIGP Talent Council in 2021 and currently serves as Chair, produces the monthly Radio NIGP show, and is a founding member/former Vice President of the Alaska/Hawaii Governmental Procurement Association NIGP Chapter.  Victor is the recipient of the Procurement Professional of the Year (2021) and the Distinguished Service Award (2023) from the Washington State NIGP Chapter.