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Frances Rodriguez currently serves as the Purchasing Director for the City of Gallup, where she has dedicated 28 years to public service. Born and raised in Gallup, NM, she graduated from Gallup High School before earning her Associate Degree in Accounting and later her Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from the University of New Mexico.

Whitney is the Procurement Manager for the City of Wheat Ridge, current MAPO (Multiple Assemblies of Procurement Officials) Chairperson, Awards Committee member for RMGPA, and serves as an NIGP Area 9 Chapter Ambassador. Recently, Whitney served as an Advisor to the CU Boulder Leeds School of Business for their Customer Experience Program. Beginning in 2010 as a Department of Defense Contractor, Whitney has been working in public procurement in various capacities since 2012 and chose to make the leap to full-time public procurement in 2015.

Susan Inman is a CPO-certified Procurement Specialist and the Trainer for the General
Services Department, State Purchasing Division. She has been with State government
for over ten years and has over 20 years of training experience. Susan regularly
teaches various procurement-related courses and functions as procurement technical
writer/reviewer. She provides outreach and training to the procurement community
(state agencies, local public bodies, and vendors) through a variety of organizations,
like NMPPA or Apex Accelerator (formerly PTAC).
State of New Mexico
General Services Department
State Purchasing Division
1100 S. St. Francis, Room 2016
Santa Fe, NM 87505
susan.inman@gsd.nm.gov
Direct: (505) 795-5551
Office (505) 827-0472

Heather Rindels is the Buyer for Los Lunas Schools and has been with the District since the Fall of 2008. She is a 1994 Los Lunas High School graduate and is honored to work in a position that allows her to serve her community. She received her Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB) certification in 2013 and is also a National Institute of Government Procurement Certified Procurement Professional (NIGP-CPP) , a New Mexico Certified Purchasing Officer (CPO), a Certified Advocate for Public Ethics (CAPE), as well as a New Mexico Edge Public Procurement Professional (NM CPPP). She has been nominated as an Emerging Woman Leader in Procurement and currently serves on the Board of the New Mexico Public Procurement Association (NMPPA).

Jeremy is the first State Ethics Commission Executive Director. He previously served as General Counsel to New Mexico’s Department of Finance and Administration and practiced law at Bondurant Mixson & Elmore LLP, in Atlanta, Georgia, and Freedman Boyd Hollander & Goldberg, P.A., in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jeremy clerked for the Honorable Julia S. Gibbons on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; the Honorable Judith K. Nakamura on the New Mexico Supreme Court; and the Honorable James O. Browning on the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico. He holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, D.Phil. and M.Phil. degrees from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a B.S. from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Jeremy served two terms on the New Mexico Supreme Court’s Appellate Rules Committee and, in 2024, was named Public Lawyer of the Year by the Public Law Section of New Mexico’s State Bar.

Jeremy.Farris@sec.nm.gov

Registration is now open for the NMPPA 2026 Spring Conference and Vendor Fair, happening March 25–27, 2026, in beautiful Ruidoso, New Mexico! Join procurement professionals and vendors from across the state for engaging educational sessions, valuable networking, and a dynamic vendor fair. Hotel rooms are going fast, so be sure to register early and book your accommodations soon. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, connect, and recharge in the mountains!

Tammy Rimes serves as Executive Director of the National Cooperative Procurement Partners (NCPP), North America’s Association for educational content, legislative advocacy, and support for cooperative procurement. She also formally served as Purchasing Agent for the City of San Diego, the 9th largest city in the US and Emergency Logistics Chief during the 2007 Witch Creek Fires. Under her leadership, the city consolidated its warehouse operations, centralized all purchasing and contracting operations, and moved to a more customer-focused approach. With past sales and marking experience in the airline, retail, electrical utility, and wine industry, she has the unique perspective of working in three different worlds – corporate, government and entrepreneurial.