Keisha Dawkins

Keisha Dawkins serves as a procurement specialist within the NHTSA Office of Acquisition, supporting the agency’s mission to advance motor vehicle safety through evidence-based contracting. She manages the acquisition of technical services and testing solutions critical to evaluating vehicle safety technologies, behavioral research protocols, and fuel efficiency compliance systems. Her work directly enables NHTSA’s regulatory and research initiatives by securing high-integrity, data-driven testing and analytical services that inform federal safety standards and public awareness campaigns. Dawkins primarily handles service-based procurements under the 541380 NAICS category, focusing on independent laboratory testing, engineering analysis, and technical validation services essential to the agency’s safety evaluation framework. Her key contractor relationships include AMD International Technologies LLC, Aerospace & Commercial Technologies, LLC, and the National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators, all of which provide specialized engineering, technical testing, and program support services. Dawkins maintains consistent, long-term partnerships with vendors possessing deep expertise in automotive safety testing, crashworthiness analysis, and behavioral research instrumentation. These relationships are characterized by recurring task order awards under indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) vehicles, reflecting a preference for proven technical capability over competitive bidding cycles. Dawkins’s procurement portfolio reflects a 100% non-set-aside approach, with no use of 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, or other socioeconomic preferences. Her contracting strategy prioritizes technical merit, laboratory accreditation, and methodological rigor over socioeconomic categorization, aligning with NHTSA’s mission-critical need for impartial, high-fidelity data. This approach ensures that all awarded contracts meet stringent federal testing standards, regardless of vendor size or certification status. Her primary industry focus is on NAICS 541380—Testing Laboratories and Services—with an emphasis on automotive safety testing, crash simulation validation, and behavioral data collection systems. She procures services involving instrumented vehicle testing, sensor calibration, human factors analysis, and compliance testing for federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS), demonstrating deep expertise in the technical domains underpinning NHTSA’s regulatory authority.