Cecelia Royster

Cecelia Royster serves as a key procurement professional at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where she manages acquisitions critical to sustaining the nation’s premier performing arts venue. Her work directly supports the Center’s mission to deliver world-class artistic experiences by securing specialized equipment, technical infrastructure, and operational services that enable seamless stage production and audience engagement. She typically handles complex procurements involving audiovisual systems, stage rigging hardware, security services, and facility maintenance solutions, ensuring compliance with federal contracting standards while aligning with the Center’s artistic and operational priorities. Royster cultivates strategic partnerships with a diverse array of vendors, including manufacturers of professional-grade audio and video systems, crane and hoist manufacturers for stage automation, and certified security and waste management providers. Her contracting approach emphasizes reliability, technical precision, and long-term serviceability, often requiring vendor collaboration on custom installations and integration with legacy performance systems. She maintains consistent engagement with both large-capacity suppliers and niche specialists capable of meeting the Center’s unique technical demands. A strong advocate for socioeconomic equity in federal contracting, Royster prioritizes small business participation, with 85.7% of her acquisitions set aside for small businesses under FAR 19.5. Her contracting patterns reflect a deliberate commitment to empowering small, disadvantaged, and service-disabled veteran-owned firms, ensuring broad access to opportunities within the performing arts infrastructure sector. Her primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 334310 for professional audiovisual equipment and 333923 for overhead stage rigging systems, underscoring her technical expertise in performance venue engineering. She also routinely procures security and waste management services under NAICS 561612 and 562998, demonstrating a holistic approach to facility operations. Royster’s work bridges the gap between artistic vision and operational execution, ensuring the Kennedy Center’s infrastructure remains at the forefront of global performing arts standards.