Support ASPA's Rising Stars

... Like Ana-Maria Dimand!

My name is Ana-Maria Dimand, and I am a fifth year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Public Policy and Administration at Florida International University in Miami.

I have been involved with ASPA from the onset of my doctoral program and I was one of the founding members of ASPA’s Section on Procurement and Contract Management. I also currently serve as the Student Representative on ASPA’s National Council.
 
Shortly after graduating law school from Romanian American University, in Bucharest, Romania, I caught the “public service” bug and started working as a legal advisor for a central government organization there that specialized in public procurement. My professional experience inspired my research interests, which are at the intersection of government contracting, environmental policy and collaborative governance.

In my view, public service is the “oil that makes the machine run.” It is the core of our society’s wellbeing. Without public service—may it be directly offered by the government or outsourced—we wouldn’t have education, public safety, health, roads and public transit, or have our garbage collected.

In my dissertation, I explore my research interests by identifying the determinants of governments’ engagement in green public procurement practices and the impact of collaborative governance on the adoption of such practices. I believe climate change is one of today’s “wicked problems” and I hope to use my research to further the debate around it.  

ASPA is meaningful to me because of the support and opportunities it offers our professional community. I hold the Founders’ Fellows program and the International Young Scholars Workshop dear to my heart. These programs have been instrumental in expanding my network, as well as developing my research presentation skills. Additionally, the Section on Procurement and Contract Management has become a professional home for me, where I am surrounded with like-minded scholars and we can create initiatives that best serve our interests.
    
For all of you who donate to ASPA, I say a wholehearted “thank you!” Thank you for helping me and other students and new professionals spread the “public service” bug and assisting us in achieving our goals. It means the world to us.