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E&I Cooperative Services, in partnership with Cornell University, offers a 9-month CPO track leadership program for future senior procurement executives, which begins in early 2026.

Participants will receive a dual Executive Leadership Certificate, fully funded by E&I, and join the EdPro NextGen Leadership Summit in November to engage with industry leaders and celebrate their achievements.

This advanced program will help prepare procurement professionals for a Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) role and develop the advanced skills and knowledge required for this executive position.

Application for 2026 can be found here.

Applications are due on: December 5, 2025

Meet the 2025 EdPro NextGen Leadership Program Cohort!

You Will Learn

Individual Strengths

How to advance as an executive leader through vision-setting, leadership acumen, informed decision-making, and personal growth to drive long-term success.

Organizational Influence

How to strengthen executive presence
and communication in order to influence change and transformation within educational procurement.

Culture Alignment

How to navigate governance and stakeholder management in order to foster a culture of innovation and collaboration.

E&I's Commitment

As part of E&I’s commitment to its members and the procurement profession, E&I will fully subsidize the cost of the program for participants, including tuition costs and attendance at the EdPro NextGen Leadership Summit. This significant investment underscores E&I’s dedication to advancing the development of procurement professionals and fostering the next generation of leaders in the field. Additionally, as part of the program, E&I will provide real-time cohort coaching and facilitating with a coach dedicated specifically to the program.

Key Outcomes of the Program

By developing the ability to set a compelling vision, higher education procurement professionals can ensure their initiatives are aligned with institutional goals. This strategic direction not only enhances operational effectiveness but also supports the overall mission of educational institutions.

The program equips professionals with the tools to analyze complex procurement issues and weigh potential risks effectively. This skillset allows procurement leaders to make informed decisions that maximize value for their organizations and contribute to improved educational outcomes.

Fostering self-awareness and emotional intelligence is crucial for success in procurement roles and is one of the top professional development demands. Participants will learn to manage challenges with confidence and resilience, cultivating a growth mindset that encourages ongoing professional development and adaptability in a dynamic environment.

The program prepares participants to navigate the complexities of change within the educational procurement landscape. By enhancing change management skills, professionals can guide their organizations through disruptions and ensure they remain responsive to evolving needs and challenges.

Transformational leadership training empowers educational procurement professionals to secure “a seat at the table”, positioning them as visionaries who drive the institutional mission. By inspiring teams and fostering innovative thinking, they enhance procurement practices that align with the institution’s goals, ultimately benefiting the entire educational community.

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Course Curriculum

COURSE 1

With E&I

Your Leadership
Landscape

Starts in March

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E&I COURSE 1: Your Leadership Landscape

Course Description

This course equips participants with essential tools for self-awareness, team development, and organizational influence. Starting with leadership and CliftonStrengths assessments, participants will uncover their unique strengths and style, shaping their individual goals for the program. By exploring leadership theories, they’ll gain insights into how to adapt their style across different scenarios.

Participants will use tools like SWOT and RACI to analyze their professional network, identifying key stakeholders, resources, and challenges. They will map influential connections, including future leaders who can support their success and advance their vision. By examining local and global procurement trends, participants will understand the broader landscape impacting their roles. The course concludes with reflections on lessons learned, empowering participants to strategize for ongoing development.

Key Course Takeaways:

  • Communicate individual strengths and leadership style
  • Apply leadership theories as instruments for influence
  • Analyze leadership tools that inform organizational change
  • Discover local and global educational procurement trends and forecasting

COURSE 2

With eCornell

Leveraging Emotional Intelligence for Project Results

Starts in April

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CORNELL COURSE 2: Leveraging Emotional Intelligence for Project Results

Course Description

Even the most experienced project leaders will sometimes ask themselves: “Why won’t people listen to me?” or “What went wrong with my plan?” Of all the skills critical to project leadership, emotional intelligence may be the most important—and least understood.

In this course, you will learn to identify, analyze, and manage emotions, both yours and those of your team members.

It is a common mistake among project leaders to focus too heavily on the mechanics of project management while neglecting the critical people skills that keep everyone engaged and working harmoniously. In this course, from Robert Newman of Cornell’s College of Civil and Environmental Engineering, project leaders will explore concepts of emotional intelligence and practice skills relevant to managing emotions so that they can enjoy better project outcomes. You will focus on five critical aptitudes: communication, relationship management, decision making, conflict management, and motivation.

Key Course Takeaways:

  • Practice increasing your self-awareness, increasing your ability to self-manage and develop your emotional intelligence
  • Explore the importance of self-management
  • Identify methods of managing emotions to optimize communication, improve decision making, and drive overall team performance

COURSE 3

With eCornell

Leading Organizational
Change

Starts in May

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CORNELL COURSE 3: Strategic Decision Making

Course Description

The ability to make effective and timely decisions is an essential skill for successful executives. Mastery of this skill influences all aspects of day-to-day operations as well as strategic planning. In this course, developed by Professor Robert Bloomfield, Ph.D. of Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, you will hone your decision-making skills by following a methodology based on tested actions and sound organizational approaches. You will leave this course better equipped to confidently tackle any decision large or small, and you’ll do so in a way that creates the optimal conditions for success.

Key Course Takeaways:

  • Respond decisively and consistently when faced with situations that require a decision
  • Determine the most important features of the decision you need to make, based on the setting and the context
  • Recognize and compensate for psychological factors in yourself and in others that affect decision quality
  • Incorporate available information into decisions, with an awareness of the limitations of that information
  • Establish responsibilities and accountabilities to ensure effective follow through on decisions made

COURSE 4

With eCornell

Strategic
Decision Making

Starts in July

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CORNELL COURSE 4: Leading Organizational Change

Course Description

All leadership is change leadership. Good leadership isn’t about stagnation; it’s about moving ahead. In this course, Cornell University’s Professor Samuel Bacharach, Ph.D., explores the fundamental, practical skills that effective leaders have mastered.

Effective change leaders do three things; they anticipate where things are moving, they facilitate the implementation of change, and they sustain momentum by taking charge and moving things ahead. Great change leaders know how to be both proactive and reactive, as Professor Bacharach explains. Students in this course will examine their own leadership styles and practice skills that will help them translate ideas into organizational results, find ways to overcome organizational inertia, and examine strategies for overcoming individual resistance to change.

Key Course Takeaways:

  • Facilitate change by translating ideas into desired organizational results
  • Identify the change process as it relates to organizations
  • Identify ways to overcome organizational inertia
  • Examine strategies for overcoming individual resistance to change
  • Explore ways of anticipating and mitigating uncertainty

COURSE 5

With eCornell

Problem Solving Using
Evidence & Critical Thinking

Starts in August

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CORNELL COURSE 5: Problem Solving Using Evidence and Critical Thinking

Course Description

Have you ever known a very intelligent person who made a very bad decision? If so, you know that having a high IQ does not guarantee that you automatically make critically thoughtful decisions. Critically thoughtful problem-solving is a discipline and a skill—one that allows you to make decisions that are the product of careful thought, and the results of those decisions help your team and organization thrive.

In this course you will practice a disciplined, systematic approach to problem solving that helps ensure that your analysis of a problem is comprehensive, is based on quality, credible evidence, and takes full and fair account of the most probable counterarguments and risks. The result of this technique is a thoroughly defensible assessment of what the problem is, what is causing it, and the most effective plan of action to address it. Finally, you will identify and frame a problem by assessing its context and develop a well-reasoned and implementable solution that addresses the underlying causes.

Key Course Takeaways:

  • Assess the context of the problem
  • Determine the current and desired states and confirm this with decision makers
  • Identify and articulate the questions that must be answered to bridge the gap between current state and desired future state
  • Determine root causes and distinguish symptoms from problems
  • Brainstorm a range of possible solutions to address each significant underlying cause
  • Assess each option for the extent to which it bridges the gap between current and future state, whether it is implementable, and if it is ethical

COURSE 6

With E&I

Application &
Evaluation

Starts in September

Learn More

E&I COURSE 6: You are the EdPro NextGen

Course Description

In this final course, participants will deepen skills in assessment, communication, and demonstrating value—essential for advancing organizational success. They will focus on measuring performance, gathering feedback, and aligning team goals with broader strategies to enhance accountability and continuous improvement.

Participants will also learn to communicate the impact of their initiatives effectively to key stakeholders, including educational leaders, community members, and procurement professionals, fostering collaboration and strengthening support.

The course concludes with participants finalizing their ePortfolios, receiving feedback, and preparing for active engagement in the upcoming Leadership Summit, ensuring they are equipped for continued growth and networking opportunities.

Key Course Takeaways:

  • Apply assessment tools to evaluate performance and align team goals
  • Develop communication strategies to convey the value of initiatives to stakeholders
  • Gain peer feedback through ePortfolio exchanges and final progress reviews

Who Should Apply

The program is aimed at the next generation of procurement leaders with 5-10 years of experience managing people. You should have clear ambition to attain a leadership position (think CPO/CFO/CBO) in educational procurement within the next 5 years.

GUIDELINES & HOW TO APPLY

Applicants must meet the following criteria in order to apply:

  • Applicants must be an employee of an E&I member institution (check here if unsure).
  • Applicants must agree to the time commitment and fully understand the technical requirements necessary to complete the program (see FAQs for more information).
  • Applicant’s senior-most procurement lead (such as a CPO, CFO, etc.) must endorse the applicant by agreeing to complete a Sponsor form, which will be sent after the Applicant applies. The Sponsor commitments can be found here.

Applicants must meet the following criteria in order to apply:

  • Complete every course in the curriculum on time and meet all course requirements. Any emergencies and/or extenuating circumstances must be communicated immediately to the E&I Facilitator.
  • Act in good faith with the cohort to engage, complete coursework, and participate in discussions. The success of the program is contingent upon each Participant’s willingness to engage fully with their cohort.
  • Agree to eCornell’s Terms of Use for the Cornell portions of the curriculum and attend eCornell onboarding calls.

Applicants must complete the application using the link below. The following documentation will be required:

  • Leadership experience, responsibilities, and information
  • Resume
  • Personal statement (why I am applying)
  • Sponsor information

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E&I’s Partnership with Cornell

E&I has selected Cornell University as our education partner for the EdPro NextGen Leadership Program. E&I evaluated leadership programs from a number of prestigious universities. Cornell was chosen because of its strong reputation, incredible curriculum and faculty, flexibility for participants, and fit with E&I’s overall mission. Cornell’s programming is fully online and will cover a variety of leadership practices to enhance E&I’s more specific educational procurement curriculum. The Cornell component of the program will result in a co-branded E&I and Cornell Leadership certificate to add to the overall certificate received upon completion of the full program!

2025/2026 Program Sponsorship

E&I is proud to welcome Staples as the inaugural sponsor of the 2025 NextGen Leadership Program. Our business partners play a crucial role in shaping the future of procurement, and through sponsorships like this, E&I can continue driving innovation, thought leadership, and professional development in the industry. With the support of trusted, long-term partners like Staples, we’re empowering the next generation of procurement professionals to lead with confidence and expertise in the ever-evolving world of higher education procurement.

Tune in to our Cooperatively Speaking Podcast to learn more about Staples’s investment in this program.

Listen to the Podcast

Support For The E&I EdPro Leadership Program & Summit

Jennifer Adling,

Assistant Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer, Texas Tech University | Former Chair, E&I Board of Directors

“Our members have articulated a clear need for robust programs to help their teams grow and thrive. While E&I’s roots are in cooperative purchasing, we are listening to our members’ evolving needs and the changing landscape of educational procurement. This division is a response to that call and represents an important moment for the profession. There are many seasoned professionals who are retiring, and a new generation of procurement professionals are entering the workforce, thus the greater demand for more comprehensive training.”

Eric Frank,

CEO, E&I Cooperative Services

“E&I is incredibly proud to make this investment in educational procurement. As a member-owned cooperative, E&I thrives on the strength of the community it serves. By investing in the future of education procurement, we are investing in the future of our cooperative itself. The success of our members is our success. Through this initiative, we aim to cultivate the next generation of leaders, foster innovation, and deepen collaboration—all of which will reinforce the foundation of our cooperative for years to come.”

Frequently Asked Questions

The program launched as E&I’s marquee leadership development initiative, which was one of the key 2025 initiatives being developed under our newly launched Community Engagement & Education division. E&I created this division in direct response to feedback from procurement professionals at our member institution. Members expressed a need for more comprehensive leadership training, professional development opportunities, and collaboration tools to address evolving challenges in educational procurement. By reinvesting in our member community, we’re making a commitment to developing leaders, fostering collaboration, and driving impactful change throughout the profession. 

E&I evaluated leadership programs from 15 prestigious universities. Cornell was chosen because of its strong reputation, incredible curriculum and faculty, flexibility for participants, and fit with E&I’s overall mission. Cornell is the perfect partner to help us provide a world-class experience for our members.

The Summit is the capstone event of the EdPro NextGen Leadership Program. It will take place in November. All participants in the EdPro NextGen Leadership Program will graduate at this event. The Summit will feature talks, workshops, and networking opportunities designed to foster collaboration, innovation, and professional development. Attendance at the Summit will be by invitation only, primarily for those participating in the leadership program, along with other relevant stakeholders. 

The exact dates and location of the Summit will be announced soon. Details are still being worked out. We do know that the Summit will be in November. 

The EdPro NextGen Leadership Program is designed for procurement professionals within E&I’s membership who are preparing for a senior executive role such as Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) or equivalent. An application process with the requirements and prerequisites is available on the E&I NextGen Leadership Application. While this inaugural program focuses on leaders ready for senior positions, we will be developing additional professional development programs tailored for different career stages and audiences within educational procurement in the future.

Selected participants will be in the program from March – November. We anticipate each participant will need to dedicate 3-5 hours per week during that time, although not every week will have programming (for example, the summer months and fiscal year end timeframes have been accommodated for). Additionally, participants are required to attend the in-person EdPro NextGen Leadership Summit at the conclusion of the program. 

Yes, the program is only to institutions that are members of the E&I community. Not currently an E&I member? Apply now for FREE.

E&I will fully subsidize the program in 2026 for all selected Participants, including attendance at the EdPro NextGen Leadership Summit. 

Applicants must have a sponsor in order to apply to ensure that selected participants are afforded the support they need from their institutions to complete the program. The Sponsor will agree to the applicant’s time commitment if selected, as well as committing to strategic engagement with E&I. As a sponsor for E&I’s EdPro NextGen Leadership Program, you are not only investing in the growth of an emerging leader at your institution but also building a powerful partnership with E&I to advance your institution’s procurement strategy. The Sponsor represents the senior-most role within the member institution’s procurement function.

As a sponsor for E&I’s EdPro NextGen Leadership Program, you are not only investing in the growth of an emerging leader at your institution but also building a powerful partnership with E&I to advance your institution’s procurement strategy. Through this intentional, strategic engagement, sponsoring institutions will help foster an environment where their procurement leaders thrive, while advancing institutional goals and supporting the greater mission of E&I and our members. By committing to deeper engagement with E&I, we will fully subsidize the cost of the program for our 2026 cohort. 

Unfortunately, if a Sponsor is not identified or does not agree to support the Applicant’s application or agree to the Sponsor commitments, the Applicant will not be a candidate for selection. E&I considers the program an investment in our member institutions and strategic engagement and support of an Applicant is critical to the overall success of the program and future programs.

Coursework will be a mixture of both, allowing the Participant to work independently and together with their coach and cohort. eCornell requirements may vary from E&I’s course requirements, and Participants will be expected to adhere to the course requirements for eCornell as well as E&I.

E&I has always been committed to advancing the procurement profession and addressing the needs of our members. This program was developed in direct response to member feedback. That feedback highlighted the need for more leadership training. Other organizations offer some programming in these areas. None, however, operate at the scale or depth our members require. We have over 6,000 member institutions. Many of our members have no access to meaningful programming at all, and of those who do, many still require more than they are getting today. By creating this division, we are investing in the growth and success of our community, ensuring that procurement professionals have access to the resources they need to thrive. This not only strengthens the profession as a whole but also creates lasting value for our members.

For the E&I portion, participants will need Internet access and a Web browser. We recommend Chrome, but Firefox, and Safari are supported as well.

For the eCornell portion of the curriculum, please review Cornell’s technical requirements. These can be accessed here: https://ecornell.cornell.edu/about-ecornell/technical-requirements/.

Yes, Participants will be able to access course content through a mobile browser on a tablet or phone.

Yes! By completing the course, a participant will receive documentation of course completion complete with applicable credits information. We are currently awaiting approval on the number of credits a selected participant will receive.

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