Joann Spirito is the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s Assistant Director of Procurement. She embraces a top-down and bottom-up approach to fulfill the agency’s commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. She introduces diverse perspectives in all planning and decision-making to foster the growth and development of minority groups and to drive innovation. Joann ensures procurement strategies are developed with a focus on supplier diversity, providing opportunities for prime and subcontractor vendors and to increasing the pool of qualified and interested diverse vendors. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has embedded diversity into their DNA, leadership has set ambitious goals and executives are held accountable for achieving goals.
Post COVID-19, Joann made it a major priority to drive operational efficiency through technology utilization. Technology has enabled procurement to reach vendors to provide real-time information sharing. Her focus on achieving efficiencies in information sharing has led to heightened visibility, transparency, agility, decreased cycle time, and process automation. The use of technology has also helped buyers develop a competitive edge and allow better decisions based on the availability of information due to peer organizations.