If we genuinely want more competition and more participation from women-owned, minority-owned and small businesses, we need to rethink what access means. Like countless procurement professionals across America, my team spent months developing the scope of work, meeting with stakeholders and balancing cost, quality, compliance and public need. America doesn’t have a shortage of capable small businesses. If we genuinely want more competition and more participation from women-owned, minority-owned and small businesses, we need to rethink what access means. Trained as a physician with a master’s in public health, she has spent her career at the intersection of government, public health and small business.