Procurement supports learners, families and the SelfDesign organization
SelfDesign® Learning Foundation’s Director of Procurement brings deep and broad experience in the field to the role. As an accredited and certified supply chain management and procurement specialist, Paul Mackisoc has managed the sourcing, purchasing, warehousing, shipping and supply of stock for various companies across Canada, including a gourmet coffee supply company that ships product throughout Canada and overseas, a large Alberta-based underground utility construction company, an oil and gas company, a major BC university, and more.
However, he says some of the most rewarding experiences of his career have occurred during the last five years while he has worked at SelfDesign.
“Working at SelfDesign and being a part of this positive community has been very rewarding. Being part of a strong and committed team is also gratifying.” “One of our greatest strengths is due to the people we work with. People who put the learner first, communicate with compassion and are dedicated to finding efficient processes and viable solutions”.
Procurement at SelfDesign
Paul describes his new role at SelfDesign as “overseeing a knowledgeable and productive team of 14 SelfDesign contractors who are engaged with various types of work associated with procuring educational support, services and resources for learners as well as general goods and services for the entire organization.”
The team creates contracts, processes invoices, maintains learners’ budgets, and purchases for Learning Resources and Services (LRS), Individual Education Plan (IEP) supports, the Cultural Learning Grant, and the HomeLearners Network.
As part of the organizational changes to Procurement at SelfDesign, the Procurement—Service Providers team and LRS Purchasers have joined together. The newly expanded team also handles the verification and tracking processes related to criminal record checks, WorkSafe BC training requirements and insurance coverage, and the qualifications of professional support providers and material suppliers.
“I’ve found over the years that people often don’t understand the difference between purchasing, which is a short-term action — buying an item from a supplier — and procurement,” Paul says. “Procurement is a long-term, holistic and strategic approach to acquiring goods and services for an entire organization. It involves many tasks, such as sourcing vendors, creating and negotiating contracts, record keeping and analyzing spend. Unlike purchasing, procurement considers the overall value of the transaction, not just the price. It focuses on building mutually beneficial relationships with suppliers or support providers and on ensuring efficient and effective processes are in place. Procurement management helps the organization by ensuring procurement practices align with the needs of internal stakeholders, as well as broader organizational strategies.”
Based on that definition, Paul says “’Procurement encompasses diverse areas that the entire SelfDesign Procurement team supports every day. We’re involved in and affect many different aspects of the organization.”
First years at SelfDesign
Paul joined SelfDesign in 2019. Many of our families and educators encountered him through emails and bulletins while purchasing materials through our LRS process.
Under LRS, learners in kindergarten to grade 9 with SelfDesign® Learning Community are allocated a set amount of funding each learning year that they can use to pay for additional learning supplies or opportunities offered by support providers in the local community. Supplies can be, for example, art materials or chemistry supplies, and can be ordered through our pre-approved suppliers. Opportunities can include team fees for hockey or basketball, dance, singing or horseback riding lessons, gym or studio memberships, and more. The supplies and services accessed are used to further the learner’s personalized learning goals, as set out in their personalized learning plans, and are approved by their learning consultant.
Paul and the other members of the LRS team worked with our approved suppliers to assemble kits of pre-approved supplies for the LRS catalogue that learners and families could order from. He also worked with other members of our Purchasing and Finance teams to streamline LRS processes while ensuring they met the BC Ministry of Education and Child Care’s strict guidelines for such funds — and, indeed, for almost everything at SelfDesign.
“Everything we do in Procurement at SelfDesign is guided by the Ministry guidelines for use of the funding they provide.” Paul says. “How LRS, – and our other learner-support programs tie into those guidelines — what we can do, and how we do it — is an extremely important part of our contract with the Ministry. This is a strong team I admire very much for the consistency, concern and care they provide”.
Looking ahead
Over the next year, Paul will be leading and providing subject matter expertise on some of our business improvement initiatives. The team continues to document procurement processes to ensure they meet new and emerging Ministry guidelines.
And through all of that, the team continues to work with every other team at SelfDesign to support their often-unique procurement needs — and to support learners and their families in meeting their learning goals.
