Cassye D. Cook Provost Email & Phone Number

Schaumburg, Illinois, Us

Houston, Tx, Us

As a Sr. Director, I work closely with key stakeholders in corporate and field organizations to develop effective category management, cost reduction strategies, and implementation plans for 20+ categories. Also, I build and nurture stakeholder relationships as a Business Partner, identify critical business requirements, and provide sourcing and procurement services that exceed expectations. Moreover, I develop and implement corrective measures to improve supplier performance, continually improve my knowledge of diversity and inclusion initiatives and create innovative solutions to strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion across the organization.My career successes include: ➤ Drove sourcing strategy and procurement operations for all categories and sub-categories of Sysco’s $2B indirect portfolios.➤ Execute strategic sourcing, risk mitigation plans, and direct material negotiations strategies, leading to $30M savings under Sysco’s newly established Indirect Sourcing and Procurement Center of Excellence.➤ Designed and developed a comprehensive diversity and inclusion strategy, resulting in a more integrated and cohesive approach to ensuring an inclusive and highly engaged environment that addresses the needs of stakeholders.

Houston, Tx, Us

During my period as the Director of Business Technology Procurement, I oversaw the purchasing process and direct transactional support of the technology goods and services for the enterprise. In addition, I provided strategic and collaborative leadership for a 12-member team and delivered guidance and training to team members to achieve operational excellence and a high level of productivity. Also, I researched diversity, equity, and inclusion best practices and integrated the best practices in the team's daily operations.My signature achievements as the Director of Business Technology Procurement are as follow: ➤ Maintained tracking and reporting practices for cost savings for the organization, reaching $100M in direct savings and cost avoidance over five years.➤ Built and actively expanded VMO into international markets by creating strong relationships with the Senior Executives in Europe, effectively recruiting and training a dedicated vendor manager.➤ Implemented a procurement dashboard and annual EOY reporting to measure KPIs and metrics and reported the annual savings, contract, PO and invoice volumes, and cycle time.

As a Director of Vendor Management Office, I conceptualized and executed cutting-edge sourcing and vendor relationship management strategies for technology in collaboration with executive leadership. Moreover, I championed the development and implementation of expense and cost-benefit analysis for technology products and services and reduced organizational costs by sourcing IT commodity categories and contingent worker services. Besides, I created and implemented broad diversity and inclusion strategies and delivered diversity and inclusion training on Sysco's Diversity & Inclusion initiative to 60 Senior Executives.My key accomplishments during my time as a Director of Vendor Management Office include: ➤ Successfully implemented SAP SRM to procure IT goods and services and initiated the "No PO/No Pay" protocol for Sysco Business Technology. ➤ Established e-Procurement work intake, contract life-cycle management tools, and procedures for Ariba and SAP software.

I partnered with business leadership groups and participated in developing strategic sourcing and vendor relationship management strategies for all aspects of technology. Also, I expanded and enhanced VMO reputation through proactive branding and service delivery, and served as a Subject Matter Expert for technology software and intellectual property licensing practices, hardware, and services.In addition, I negotiated contracts with various solution partners, including Microsoft, SAP, Infosys, and Deloitte Consulting, and utilized metrics to track spending against active contracts, transactional activities with vendors, supplier utilization, and cost savings on a quarterly and annual basis. My career successes are:➤ Managed and oversaw Sysco's $250M Information Technology software and professional service contracts.➤ Developed, documented, implemented, and maintained vendor contract management processes, standards, and metrics tracking for a $200M BT Vendor Portfolio.➤ Effectively built and maintained external third-party vendor relationships while executing top-notch technology cost-saving strategies for the VMO.

As Vendor Manager, I performed several duties, including that of Manager for Vendor Management Office. My selected accomplishments include:➤ Drove ongoing process improvement to deliver increased operational efficiency with business partners.➤ Performed continuous improvement of standard form agreements, policies and processes.➤ Facilitated the qualification of vendors by completing a RFP process for services. ➤ Tracked spending against active contracts, transactional activities with vendors, supplier utilization and cost savings on a quarterly and annual basis.

Us

➤ Responsible for monitoring Sterling Bank’s compliance performance with various laws and regulations via internal self-assessments/audits.➤ Assisted in regulatory reporting and the drafting, reviewing, and editing of various internal and external reports made by the Compliance Department.➤ Performed risk analysis, when necessary, to determine the level of risk to the bank and recommend actions to mitigate such risk.➤ Provided compliance recommendations to corporate departments and retail branch personnel.➤ Reviewed advertisements and other commercial messages for compliance adherence.

Houston, Tx, Us

➤ Negotiated complex business transactional agreements for software licenses, support, escrow, and professional services, over 500K. ➤ Drafted contract language and custom agreements to meet business needs, identified potential risks to Amegy (warranties, ownership, and indemnification) and enforced contract provisions. ➤ Comprehensively, drafted and executed over 400 contracts totaling over $9.3 million.➤ Advised internal business units while performing regulatory screenings for Gramm Leach Bliley, Patriot Act, and Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act to achieve full contract compliance.➤ Managed Amegy merger and acquisition activities for Maxim Bank, Lone Star Bank, and Klein Bank, via independent review and contract transition of over 400 existing contracts.➤ Assisted General Counsel with litigation matters and contract enforcement to mitigate bank risk and exposure.➤ Led and provided negotiation strategies to the Office of Project Management for bank acquisition of software/system enterprise solutions.➤ Monitored internal controls; enforced policies and procedures to ensure compliance with Federal and State Regulations.➤ Prepared departmental reports and corrective action plans as needed for Regulatory guidelines and Contracts Risk.

Ba, Business Administration/Marketing

Juris Doctorate, Law