Overview

July 21

Public agencies want to embrace AI — but navigating procurement, compliance and vendor vetting can be daunting and time-consuming. That’s about to change.

Join us for a first look at a groundbreaking initiative from TXShare, Civic Marketplace, and the Alliance for Innovation: the nation’s first cooperative purchasing contracts for artificial intelligence solutions and services, designed specifically for the public sector.

This live webinar will explore how state and local governments can now tap into a pre-vetted, ready-to-use ecosystem of AI consultants and solution providers — bringing everything from chatbots to 5-year strategic roadmaps within reach.

Learn how this initiative unlocks fast, compliant access to cutting-edge AI.

Featured Speakers:

Todd Little, Executive Director, North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG)
A public sector leader from Coppell, Texas, sharing real-world implementation insights
An industry expert from Civic Marketplace

What You’ll Learn:

The types of AI solutions and services available through the marketplace
How early adopters are already seeing faster deployment, better insights and stronger compliance
Why this model is a blueprint for modernizing procurement and transforming service delivery

Whether you’re building your first AI pilot or scaling innovation across departments, this session offers a rare opportunity to get ahead of the curve — with the tools and partners to make it happen.

Register now to learn how public sector leaders are turning AI possibilities into real-world progress.

Speakers

Todd Little

Executive Director of North Central Texas Council of Governments

Todd Little is the Executive Director of North Central Texas Council of Governments, bringing decades of public service experience, including roles as Mayor of Red Oak and Ellis County Judge. A longtime advocate for regional and national collaboration & innovation, he has served on the NCTCOG Executive Board and led community health and senior service initiatives, and is a keen advocate of TXShare, which is the cooperative purchasing program created by the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG). The TXShare Cooperative Purchasing Program is the direct outcome of municipal governments partnering together to identify common needs for public entities across the nation.

Matia Messemer

Director of Employee Experience, City of Coppell, TX

Matia Messemer brings over 20 years of HR experience across sectors, with a passion for designing thoughtful, people-centered systems. Since joining the City of Coppell in 2022, she has led the transformation of HR into the Employee Experience Department, focusing on caring for a deeply rooted culture and operating through an experience lens. Her work centers on creating the conditions where employees thrive-even as organizations evolve through tools like AI.

Kent Collins

Deputy City Manager, City of Coppell, TX

Kent Collins is the Deputy City Manager for the City of Coppell, Texas, where serves in the City. Manager’s Office, which is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization. He was previously the Director of Public Works where he was responsible for engineering, streets, traffic,utilities, drainage, facilities, and fleet maintenance operations. Mr. Collins has over 30 years of experience in the public sector, previously serving in various engineering and leadership roles at DFW Airport, the Town of Flower Mound, and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. His professional interests include leadership, organizational health, infrastructure resilience and public service. He is a Certified Public Manager, earned an Executive Certificate in Public Leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School, and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. Kent received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1993 and 1995 respectively.

Al Hleileh

CEO and Co-Founder of Civic Marketplace

Al Hleileh is the CEO and co-founder of Civic Marketplace, the leading procurement platform purpose-built for local governments. With a background in civic technology, public sector innovation, and impact-driven entrepreneurship, Al is redefining how governments purchase goods and services-making procurement faster, fairer, and more strategic. At Civic Marketplace, he is leveraging AI and human-centered design to modernize procurement workflows, cooperative contracting, streamline vendor engagement, and unlock better outcomes for agencies and communities alike.

Sean McSpaden — Moderator

Senior Fellow, Center for Digital Government and Center for Public Sector AI

Sean McSpaden is an executive level information technology professional with over 30 years of experience in the private, non-profit, and public sectors. His background includes the start-up and management of several small businesses and he has served on the Board of Directors or in Executive Director positions for several 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. Sean’s public service experience includes progressively responsible positions as an IT analyst, and in statewide coordination, management and leadership positions within the Executive and Legislative branches of Oregon state government. From June 2008 to September 2013, Sean served as the state of Oregon’s Deputy State Chief Information Officer. Since 2013, Sean has served as a Principal Legislative IT Analyst with the Oregon Legislative Fiscal Office and as the Committee Administrator for Oregon’s Joint Legislative Committee on Information Management and Technology. In addition, Sean serves as a member Oregon’s Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and as Oregon’s representative to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Taskforce on Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Privacy. Throughout his 26-year tenure in Oregon state government, Sean and the teams he has led have received several state, regional and national recognitions and awards. In addition, Sean has represented the state of Oregon on numerous state, regional and national project steering committees, task forces, governing boards, committees, commissions and associations, and has presented on various topics at local, state, regional, national, and international meetings and conferences.

Webinar

AI, Accelerated: The Nation's First Cooperative Marketplace for Government Innovation