Message from the President PMI MN Chapter Members, Happy Thanksgiving to all that join in this holiday tradition! I am looking forward to my husband putting the turkey on the smoker, while I cook all the delicious side dishes and bake our favorite pumpkin and chocolate pudding pie. I hope all of you find creative ways to spend the holiday with your families. Now, more than ever, is the time to ensure we celebrate all the simple pleasures in our lives and taking time each day to think about what we are grateful for. I am grateful for my family, our health, all our PMI MN Chapter members, and all of you who are working in industries that continue to keep us safe and well. Our PMI MN Chapter has been busy wrapping up the 2020 year. The Board of Directors conducted a full review of our 2020 Chapter budget status during our November meeting. Despite the events that impacted our Chapter revenue this year, we are projecting our best overall budget performance compared to the past few years. I would like to thank our 2020 Director of Finance, Manish Kalra, for working with the Board and the Operations Committee to implement steps to put together a conservative, but balanced budget for 2020. This is a huge accomplishment! I would also like to thank our Board and Operations Committee Chairs and volunteers for working together to think outside the box as we overcame these life-changing events in 2020. When COVID-19 and other events occurred that impacted the approved 2020 budget, the Board made critical decisions that allowed the Chapter to make strategic changes. We executed a full re-baseline of the approved 2020 budget, and transitioned our largest annual Professional Development Days event and other Chapter events to completely virtual. These strategic decisions along with working with the Operations Committee Chairs to come up with implementation of additional cost-cutting strategies, allowed us to reach this critical financial milestone. We are also working on execution of our final 2020 events, approval of our 2021 budget, putting the final touches on our 2021 events calendar, and leadership transition. I will introduce our new 2021 Board members, along with Board members who are transitioning into a new Board position in 2021, in my next President’s message. We are thrilled to welcome the new 2021 leadership team. Our final 2020 Chapter breakfast topic is “I’m PMP Certified, Now What?!”. This topic aligns nicely with new certifications that PMI Global has announced this year, as well as our newly reformatted approach to delivering our PMI MN Chapter PMP examination preparation course. I will provide all of you with more information on this in my December message. You can register for our December breakfast at join-us.pmi-mn.org.
Thank you all for having faith in your PMI MN Chapter, and partnering with us through 2020. Please continue to reach out to me with any questions or concerns that you may have. I wish all of you health, happiness, hope, love, faith, and peacefulness as we wrap up the rest of 2020.
Sincerely, Sara Swanson, PMP®, PMI-ACP®, CSM® PMI MN President, CEO |
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Volunteer of the Month | Shaina Parsons, CAPM |
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Shaina Parsons has been a committee PMI MN volunteer throughout 2019, stepping up as needed to lead many of our Events as a dedicated Program Manager.
Shaina demonstrated exception project management practices, learned our PMI MN tools and processes during her early projects assigned. Due to unfortunate circumstances with the COVID-19 environment and restrictions on our in-person events this spring and summer, her project efforts were cancelled part way through. Shaina could have become discouraged, but she stepped up to each project with enthusiasm and enjoyed an opportunity to contribute her skills to our organization, add value to our projects and committees, and learn and grow through her experiences with PMI MN. When she was called upon recently to step up, and step in, to chair one of our most critical committees, she was more than willing to take on the role and complete the project on behalf of PMI MN.
We are fortunate to have Shaina as a part of our committee volunteers, and willingness to help wherever her project management skills take her.
PMI-MN would like to thank for your many contributions to the chapter.
Congratulations!!! |
Volunteer of the Month | Brandon Guthman |
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Brandon Guthman has served as our IT Committee Chair for the past few years. He has contributed over the years to the IT Strategy, building relationships with key stakeholders to make the committee and related activities successful, and stepped up to the many challenges of the position. Within the IT Committee Chair positions in 2020, Brandon has delivered several key Board analysis and decision documents on which PMI MN leadership made several core technology strategic decisions, he has driven discussions, analysis and critical relationships with our IT Vendor to ensure the organization could not only be sustainable but also successful during Covid restrictions and changes. He has onboarded several volunteers to support the IT Committee work moving forward.
Brandon has always been thoughtful, planful, and well versed in his approaches to IT situations and concerns that come to his committee. He never falters in being willing to step up to each and every challenge to ensure it is followed through to full resolution.
PMI-MN would like to thank for your commitment to excellence and all you do for the chapter.
Congratulations!!!
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Experiencing PDD first-hand will allow you to see the value of being a PMI MN member. This is your opportunity to gain valuable insights, learn from business experts and boost management skills. And more importantly, PDD is your chance to take part in a monumental movement towards collaboration throughout all project management markets.
Virtual December Chapter Breakfast: I'm PMP Certified, Now What? December 8 | 7:30 AM - 8:30 AM | Virtual | PDUs:1-- Technical, Strategic Join us for our Virtual December Chapter Breakfast with speakers Ranjith Nair and Alicia Burke, PMI Certification Product Managers!
Discover various pathways and opportunities following your PMP certification.
New Members for the Month of October
New PMP® Certifications for the Month of October Sara Swanson, PMP®, PMI-ACP®, CSM®
President, CEO - 2020
| Geraldine Marks, PMP®
Director of Governance/Secretary | Manish Kalra, PMP®
Director of Finance | Ruth Birkholz, PMP®, CISA, CRISC, CISM
President Elect, COO - 2020
| Jacque Ince, PMP®
Director at Large | Alisha Walter, PMP®
Director at Large | Janice Pyka, MPM, MBA
Past President - 2019 | Marlaina Love
Director at Large | Michael O'Connor, PhD
PMP®, PgMP®, IPMA-B, NPDP
Director at Large | |
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