Dionne N Yelder

Dionne N. Yelder serves as a Senior Contract Specialist within the NHTSA Office of Acquisition, where she plays a pivotal role in executing complex procurement actions that advance the agency’s mission to enhance highway safety through evidence-based regulation and technological innovation. She manages the full lifecycle of acquisitions for technical services critical to vehicle safety research, behavioral analysis, and engineering evaluation, with a primary focus on testing laboratories and performance-based service contracts. Her work directly supports the development and validation of federal motor vehicle safety standards, ensuring that procurements align with statutory requirements and agency priorities in automotive safety and data-driven policy. Yelder maintains sustained contracting relationships with key vendors including AMD International Technologies LLC, Aerospace & Commercial Technologies, LLC, and the National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators, all of which provide specialized technical support for safety testing, data collection, and program evaluation services. Her procurement approach emphasizes performance outcomes, technical rigor, and long-term vendor collaboration, fostering partnerships with firms possessing deep domain expertise in automotive safety systems and behavioral research methodologies. Notably, Yelder’s portfolio reflects a 100% non-set-aside contracting pattern, indicating a strategic focus on full and open competition to ensure access to the broadest pool of technically qualified providers. This approach underscores her commitment to merit-based selection over socioeconomic set-asides, prioritizing capability and compliance over vendor classification. Her primary procurement activity centers on NAICS 541380—Testing Laboratories and Services—reflecting her specialization in acquiring third-party technical evaluations, crash testing, sensor validation, and safety compliance assessments. She consistently procures high-integrity scientific and engineering services essential to NHTSA’s regulatory decision-making, demonstrating advanced expertise in performance-based contracting, statement of work development, and technical evaluation panels for complex laboratory and field-based research services.