Some leaders change policy. Others change behavior. Soraya Correa did both. The former Chief Procurement Officer at the Department of Homeland Security joined the Optimize Podcast to talk about her four decades in federal acquisition and why she believes reform starts inside the FAR, not outside it. You can hear the full conversation here.
Host Chris Hamm sets the tone early. “One of the few people I get to interview who had more people and more responsibility than me,” he says, introducing a career that moved between procurement and program management before landing in the top acquisition job at DHS. That cross-training shaped everything Soraya did next.
Seeing Both Sides of the Acquisition Table
Soraya’s career didn’t follow a straight line. She spent years in procurement, then deliberately crossed over into program and IT roles. That move shaped how she would later lead acquisition at scale. Sitting on the program side exposed her to the realities contracting officers don’t always see, shifting mission priorities, technical uncertainty, and the pressure to deliver outcomes, not just paperwork.
That experience changed how she approached acquisition problems. She understood why requirements are messy. She saw how timelines slip before procurement ever enters the picture. And she learned that many acquisition “failures” start long before a solicitation is released.
“When you're in contracting, you pick up program management skills… how you communicate, how you interact with people."
But the reverse is also true. Program experience deepens empathy for customers and sharpens judgment. That dual perspective became critical later. It allowed her to translate between communities that often talk past each other. And it gave her credibility on both sides of the table.
Standing up the Procurement Innovation Lab, Without Asking Permission
When Soraya became DHS’s CPO, she didn’t wait for approval to launch something new. She stood up the Procurement Innovation Lab (PIL) quietly, with one staffer and a simple idea: find every flexibility in the FAR and use them.
“I didn’t ask for permission. Whenever you ask for permission, you know how that goes."
The PIL’s model was simple:
- Protect contracting officers willing to try new methods.
- Review their ideas to ensure legal grounding.
- Share every success and every failure with the workforce.
If an experiment worked, the contracting officer taught others. If it failed, Soraya took the hit. And it worked. One early procurement cut evaluation time from months to two weeks by letting technical evaluators test code instead of reading long narratives. That kind of speed is rare. But it’s possible.
Why Innovation Needs Top Cover, Especially Now
Innovation in government rarely fails because of the FAR. It fails because people don’t feel safe trying something new. Soraya understood that early. When she became DHS’s Chief Procurement Officer, she didn’t issue another memo encouraging creativity. She built protection into the system.
She launched the PIL quietly. No press release. No permission request. Just a small team and a clear promise: if a contracting officer wanted to try something new, she would stand behind them.
“My concept was this. I'm going to give top cover to any contracting officer who wants to try something new, something different. But if you fail, I take the hit for that. That's my job. As Chief Procurement Officer, I will stand before you and be your champion no matter what.”
“If you fail, I take the hit for that,” she tells her staff. That commitment mattered. It changed behavior. People tried new evaluation techniques. They streamlined closeouts. They engaged program teams differently. And when something didn’t work, it became a lesson not a career-ending event.
Chris raises the question that hangs over acquisition today. With leadership turnover, public scrutiny, and a nonstop news cycle, will today’s workforce feel confident taking those same risks? Soraya is candid. She sees progress, but she also sees fear. Reputations feel fragile. Risk feels personal.
Her message is clear. Flexibility on paper means nothing without leadership willing to absorb pressure. Top cover isn’t optional. It’s the price of innovation.
Evaluation Reform: Don’t Tell Me, Show Me
One of the most practical parts of the conversation centers on evaluation methods. Chris voices a frustration many acquisition professionals share. Written proposals dominate by default. Oral presentations improve things slightly. But neither proves capability.
“The best way is show me,” he says. Show me the code. Show me the process. Show me the result. Soraya agrees. She pushed DHS toward hands-on evaluations whenever possible. In one early PIL effort, evaluators tested software directly instead of reading long narratives. Five proposals. Two weeks. Evaluations finished. The contrast was stark.
This approach does more than save time. It reduces protest risk. It aligns acquisition with how technical work actually happens. And it gives evaluators confidence in their decisions.
Why Real Acquisition Reform Must Come From the Workforce
Soraya doesn’t believe lasting reform will come from Congress. Or from another sweeping policy rewrite. She believes it must come from the people doing the work every day.
“I still believe to this day, the only people that can reform acquisition is us. It is not going to be legislation on the Hill. It's not. We take care of that. Because we're the experts.”
That belief shaped everything she did as a leader. She encouraged collaboration across agencies. She shared methods openly. She worked closely with IT, finance, and legal teams. And she rejected the idea that procurement’s role is to block progress.
Her philosophy was simple: the answer can’t be no. It can be “not that way.” It can also be “not yet.” But it must come with options. That mindset builds trust with program offices and political leadership alike. Reform doesn’t require heroics. It requires professionals willing to talk to each other, share what works, and accept responsibility for improving the system from within.
A New Mission at NIB and a Reminder of Why Procurement Matters
Today, Soraya brings that same leadership approach to her role as CEO of the National Industries for the Blind. NIB supports the AbilityOne Program and helps create meaningful employment for people who are blind or visually impaired. It manufactures Skillcraft products, provides services like digitization and closeout support, and operates call centers for federal agencies.
What surprised her most was the scale and sophistication of the work. Modern manufacturing floors. Advanced technology. And a workforce adapting constantly to overcome barriers others never face. For Soraya, the connection is obvious. Procurement isn’t just about compliance. It’s about outcomes. When done well, it supports missions, creates opportunity, and changes lives.
Her career, from DHS to NIB, serves as a reminder that acquisition is not a back-office function. It is a public service. And when leaders give people room to think, try, and learn, reform becomes possible
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