Michelle Nahlee-Marshalek

Michelle Nahlee-Marshalek serves as the primary procurement lead for the Indian Education Acquisition Office within the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education, overseeing contracts that advance educational equity and cultural responsiveness for Native American students. She manages a diverse portfolio of acquisitions focused on educational support services, behavioral health infrastructure, and facility enhancements tailored to tribal communities. Her work directly supports the agency’s mission to create safe, inclusive, and culturally grounded learning environments by aligning procurement strategies with tribal sovereignty and federal education equity goals. She maintains consistent contracting relationships with a select group of vendors, including RJS Construction Inc. for facility improvements, Laura Edwards for specialized educational consulting, Lane Travel Inc. for student transportation logistics, Maguire Iron, Inc. for structural and safety-related supplies, and Tami Jollie-Trottier PhD PLLC for culturally informed behavioral health and special education services. Her procurement approach emphasizes long-term, mission-aligned partnerships over transactional vendor relationships, fostering trust and accountability with contractors who demonstrate deep understanding of tribal educational needs. A defining feature of her contracting portfolio is a strong preference for Indian Small Business Economic Enterprise (ISBEE) set-asides, which account for nearly half of all awards, reflecting a deliberate commitment to economic development within Native communities. She also actively utilizes Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, with minimal reliance on non-set-aside procurements, underscoring her dedication to socioeconomic inclusion and tribal business empowerment under Department of the Interior guidelines. Her primary NAICS focus is on Educational Support Services (611710), where she procures curriculum development, tutoring, and administrative support tailored to tribal schools. She also engages in limited acquisitions under Computer-Related Services (541519, 518210) to enhance digital learning capacity, and occasionally sources specialized equipment under Manufacturing categories (339940, 339920) to support classroom and extracurricular programming. Her expertise lies at the intersection of education, cultural competency, and federal contracting compliance.