Influential Women spotlights Vantive procurement chief Darlyne Freedman

Influential Women featured Darlyne R. Freedman, Chief Procurement Officer at Vantive, highlighting her 30-plus years in procurement and supply chain leadership. The profile centers on her mix of cost discipline, digital transformation and mentoring, as procurement faces rising pressure to deliver savings, resilience and better employee experience.

Why it matters: - Darlyne R. Freedman’s profile shows how procurement leadership has shifted from a back-office savings function to a strategic lever for enterprise performance. - Her focus on financial results, digital tools and employee experience reflects the mix of priorities procurement teams now face across global organizations. - The piece also underscores the growing emphasis on mentoring and leadership development inside the profession.

What happened: - Influential Women featured Darlyne R. Freedman, Chief Procurement Officer at Vantive. - Freedman leads enterprise procurement strategy and operations for a multi-billion-dollar business. - The profile highlights more than 30 years of professional experience, including 25 years in procurement and supply chain management. - Freedman’s background began in engineering and construction, where she spent 10 years in cost engineering, estimating, scheduling, document control and procurement. - Freedman earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in Bloomington with majors in economics and Spanish and a minor in business law. - Freedman later earned an MBA in Supply Chain Management from Arizona State University.

The details: - Freedman is responsible for strategic sourcing, supplier optimization, cost management, digital transformation and employee-focused procurement operations at Vantive. - She leads annual savings initiatives aimed at improving profitability and year-over-year financial performance. - Freedman also focuses on making procurement easier for employees who need goods and services to do their jobs. - That includes travel, office supplies and technology such as laptops, mobile devices and communication tools. - Freedman places emphasis on digital tools that make procurement more intuitive, transparent and effective for end users. - Her leadership approach combines collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement. - Freedman said her biggest passion is the people side of her work. - She said procurement should help organizations save money while creating a better experience for employees. - Over three decades, Freedman has mentored thousands of procurement employees, many of whom moved into larger roles. - One mentee she supported from 2012 to 2015 later asked her to serve as a reference for a chief procurement officer role and ultimately secured the job. - Freedman has received multiple CPO awards over the past 30 years. - Outside work, Freedman spends time with her parents and other elderly family members. - She also enjoys thrifting, reselling and traveling to new places. - Her full profile is available here.

Between the lines: - The profile reflects a broader procurement trend: the function is being measured on savings, risk, resilience, speed and transparency at the same time. - Freedman frames technology, including automation and AI-driven analytics, as a necessity for procurement teams that want to keep pace with global supply chain change. - Her story suggests that procurement leaders are increasingly expected to balance analytics with people management and internal service quality. - The mentoring focus also signals that talent development is becoming part of the leadership mandate, not a side benefit.

What's next: - Freedman expects procurement organizations to keep adapting as supply chains, technology and cost pressure continue to evolve. - She sees continued opportunity for procurement to gain recognition as a strategic driver of enterprise value. - Her profile suggests the next phase of the function will depend on combining disciplined strategy with stronger digital capability and leadership development.

The bottom line: - Freedman’s profile presents procurement as a discipline where financial performance and employee experience now move together, not separately.