The Answer Can’t Be No - Inside Real Acquisition Reform

In this episode of Optimize, host Chris Hamm sits down with Soraya Correa—former Chief Procurement Officer and Senior Procurement Executive at the Department of Homeland Security—to get specific about what it actually takes to modernize acquisition from the inside. Soraya walks through her career path across procurement and program leadership, then explains how she launched the DHS Procurement Innovation Lab by focusing on speed, outcomes, and the flexibilities already available “within the four corners of the FAR.”

They dig into what “top cover” looks like in practice: letting contracting officers try new approaches, learning from failure, and sharing repeatable playbooks across government. Soraya also addresses the risk environment leaders face today—and why she believes the acquisition workforce (not legislation) drives the most meaningful reform.

Finally, Soraya shares what she’s building now as CEO of the National Industries for the Blind (NIB)—supporting the AbilityOne ecosystem, expanding services like closeout support, and creating real economic independence for Americans who are blind or visually impaired.

Useful timestamps (MM:SS)

00:04 — Welcome + why Soraya’s DHS acquisition role mattered

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00:59 — Soraya’s career path: contract specialist → CPO (and why it took 40 years)

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03:35 — Moving to the program side: learning IT and building acquisition muscle

07:32 — The Procurement Innovation Lab origin story: “I didn’t ask for permission”

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09:47 — Starting with closeouts: removing friction and cleaning up the backlog

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10:40 — “Show me” evaluations: using practical tests (including “bad code”) to assess vendors

12:10 — Coalition of the willing: sharing playbooks across agencies (and why reform starts with practitioners)

14:20 — Do leaders still provide “top cover” for innovation in 2026?

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17:50 — “The answer can’t be no”: partnering with political leadership, legal, IT, and CFO

21:52 — The most unexpected DHS buy (and what it taught her about mission support)

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25:00 — What NIB does: AbilityOne, Skillcraft, and building employment pathways

29:14 — Marketing services like closeouts and accessibility at scale

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32:01 — Wrap-up and where to connect