Speakers

Sherman is a principal of Public Agency Law Group. Sherman’s practice is devoted to representing public education institutions in construction, purchasing, facilities and general business matters. He has decades of experience assisting CCDs in navigating the confusing complexities of public procurement laws, rules and regulations. He is a member of the LA County Bar Association and is admitted to practice in all California state courts, all United States District Courts in California and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Evolving from the still thriving practice she launched in 2003, Stephanie founded Collegium Strategies, LLC as a platform to extend her knowledge and insight and to empower other specialists in the facility planning-related field. She founded her first company, Dovetail Decision Consultants, Inc. following a 20-year career in Facilities, Furniture Planning and Sales Management, specifically to assist publicly funded entities with crucial aspects of FF&E planning, procurement and implementation as a client representative. Stephanie’s career journey began at Bechtel in Los Angeles where she helped to shepherd a 500,000 square foot new headquarters building for the LA Power Division. She went on to lead the systems planning team for a Herman Miller dealership, and manage the interiors team of another. She then focused on sales and sales leadership with furniture manufacturers, culminating that portion of her career as a District Manager for one of the industry’s largest manufacturers of educational furniture. She is formally educated in Interior Design (Foothill College and CSU Long Beach), Project Leadership (UC Berkeley Extension) and a wide range of business-related leadership programs (Academy Leadership, Major Account Management, etc.). Stephanie is the proud parent of a recent community college and university graduate, and is a passionate supporter of public education. She has spent 22 years serving her community institutions as an elected official.

Teri Turner currently serves as the Purchasing Manager for Sierra Joint Community College District (SJCCD), overseeing contracts, purchasing, warehouse, courier services, mail room, and auxiliary services. Teri has over 16 years of combined procurement experience in the public and private sectors. Currently, Teri is finishing up a two-year term as a Co-Chair for Northern California Community College Purchasing Group and a one-year term as a Co-Chair for the Advisory Committee for CollegeBuys. Teri also serves on the Professional Development workgroup. During her purchasing tenure, Teri has served on many solicitation committees with outside agencies, including janitorial supplies and equipment with CollegeBuys, elevator maintenance with UC, CSU, and CCCs, and copiers with the City of Sacramento. Teri believes it is vital as a procurement professional to continue training and be involved and connected with other purchasing professionals. Additionally, Teri has been a member of CAPPO and NIGP since 2016. In 2017, Teri obtained a Certificate of Recognition in Purchasing from Los Rios Community College.

Tina Nguyen Schwarz is a veteran in the world of SaaS based solutions across the supplier management, eSourcing, and Procue-to-Pay landscape. Tina brings a wealth of best practices from 20+ years of projects in both the private and public sectors with a focus on Higher Ed for the last 10 years as she helps colleges, universities and community colleges solve business problems and achieve measurable results with their eProcurement initiatives and transformation.