GSA taps Starinsky for acquisition institute

The General Services Administration has named Melissa Starinsky director of the Federal Acquisition Institute, the agency’s training arm for the acquisition workforce.

Starinsky has more than 25 years of public and private-sector experience in acquisition, and was previously chancellor of the Veterans Affairs Acquisition Academy, where she oversaw five schools: Acquisition Internship, Program Management, Contracting Professional, Facilities Management, and Supply Chain Management.

"OFPP looks forward to working closely with Melissa and the talented FAI staff in continuing to strengthen the federal acquisition workforce," Office of Federal Procurement Policy Administrator Anne Rung said in a June 1 statement.

FAI works with organizations such as OFPP, the Chief Acquisition Officers Council, and the Interagency Acquisition Career Management Council on a variety of training and research efforts. FAI is located within GSA’s Office of Government-wide Policy and receives policy direction from the OFPP.

According to GSA, Starinsky began her career as an acquisition intern in 1989 with the Navy Department and has held various acquisition and programmatic leadership positions with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs and in the private sector. While at HHS she served as deputy director of the Office of Acquisition and Grants Management for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.