Stephanie Cooke-Nwadibia

Stephanie Cooke-Nwadibia serves as a Senior Contract Specialist within the Office of Acquisition Management at the Federal Transit Administration, where she plays a pivotal role in executing compliant, transparent, and mission-aligned procurement strategies for federal transit programs. Her responsibilities include managing the full lifecycle of acquisitions—from market research and solicitation development to contract award and administration—ensuring alignment with FAR regulations and agency priorities in financial oversight, program evaluation, and grant administration. She primarily handles service-based contracts supporting administrative management, operational consulting, and technical advisory services critical to the integrity of transit funding initiatives. Cooke-Nwadibia collaborates extensively with management consulting firms and specialized professional service providers, fostering partnerships grounded in performance-based outcomes and regulatory compliance. While no single contractor dominates her portfolio, she consistently engages a diverse ecosystem of vendors offering strategic planning, financial analysis, and program evaluation expertise. Her contracting patterns reflect a preference for competitive, merit-based engagements that prioritize technical capability and past performance over volume-driven sourcing. A strong advocate for socioeconomic equity, she directs nearly 59% of her acquisitions toward Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, with an additional 7.7% allocated to 8(a) competed contracts. Her consistent emphasis on small business participation underscores a deliberate strategy to expand opportunities for disadvantaged entrepreneurs and enhance competition within the federal transit contracting space. Her procurement focus is overwhelmingly centered on NAICS 541611—Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services—reflecting a deep specialization in advisory services that support transit program governance, compliance, and operational efficiency. Secondary engagements include accounting and IT wholesale services, but her core expertise lies in securing high-integrity management consulting solutions that strengthen the Federal Transit Administration’s capacity to deliver accountable, data-driven transit investments.