Samantha Jean Phillips

Samantha Jean Phillips, doing business as Little Explorers, is a woman-owned, American Indian-owned sole proprietorship based in Duncan, Oklahoma that operates exclusively as a sub-recipient on federal child nutrition grants administered through state departments of education. The vendor has no prime contract or grant awards and no seats on federal contract vehicles; all four recent awards are sub-awards flowing through state education agencies as pass-through entities under the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service child nutrition program.

Little Explorers' entire federal footprint consists of four sub-grant awards issued between October 2025 and June 2026, each supporting the provision of nutritionally adequate meals to children in compliance with federal reimbursement standards. Combined obligated dollars across all awards total $176 thousand, with activity concentrated in a single customer agency — the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service — via state department of education prime grantees. The vendor has received one sub-award in 2025 and three in 2026, indicating early-stage engagement with federal nutrition programming.

As a woman-owned small business and American Indian-owned entity operating in the child nutrition space, Little Explorers competes in a set-aside-eligible profile but currently pursues work entirely through sub-recipient positioning rather than as a prime contractor or prime grantee. The vendor's exposure to federal procurement is limited to nutrition-support sub-awards under state-administered grants; there is no evidence of IDV participation, teaming on prime contracts, or direct federal agency engagement. The sub-awards do not specify dollar values in the source, preventing disclosure of individual award magnitudes.