A message from the President: Happy Summer to all, I hope all of you are having a wonderful summer. Can you believe we are already at the half year mark and are already looking forward to our big Professional Development Days summer event, or as we call it “PDD”. I look forward to seeing you there! Registration is open and you are still able to register at Early Bird rates here PDD 2023 !
A few weeks back, Dr. Michael O’Connor, our current PMI MN president, made the difficult decision to step down. On behalf of the leadership team, we would like to say a BIG THANK YOU for his leadership and all the work he did for the chapter. Thank you to the leadership and all the volunteers for ensuring a seamless transition with no disruption of services to our members. Please do not hesitate to reach out to myself or any of the board members if you have any questions about the transition.
As your new President, you have my commitment to lead focusing on the core foundation on which our chapter was established in 1984:
· Developing a community of project managers
· Advancing the profession of project management
· Acting as an information distribution forum for project management
· Facilitating education in project management
To those yet to meet me, Geraldine Marks, I am currently serving as the President Elect/President for PMI-MN Chapter. I currently hold the following degrees and certifications: MBA, PMP, CSM, CSPO, Six Sigma and have been a member of PMI-MN Chapter since 2015. I started with the PMI MN Chapter as a volunteer with the IT committee then IT Committee Chair, and finally onto the board. As the Director of Governance/Board Secretary I served as the Board Liaison for the Volunteer Committee. It was such a fulfilling experience being a part of this wonderful organization that I wanted to do more. Last year, as the DEI Committee Chair, I was tasked with developing the PMI-MN Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Committee with the vision to create awareness, understanding and tolerance in our daily interaction and engagement with each other. I partnered with other committees to promote events that provided a safe space to have candid conversations and a commitment for our organization to be recognized by our community as an inclusive organization.
Since rejoining the PMI MN Board in 2023, my focus has been on empowering our volunteers, offering insight where needed. Her previous experience as a chapter leader has allowed me to lead with facts, tempered by heart. I have courage to engage in candid conversations while advocating transparency.
My approach to leadership is to empower my team by:
1. Building a culture of transparency and trust
2. Innovation – education and knowledge sharing of current ideas, discoveries etc.
3. Providing opportunity to grow, build relationships and truly being there for the team.
Geraldine Marks MBA, PMP, CSPO, CSM, CPPM, 6 Sigma
PMI MN President, CEO Early Bird Ends for all PDD classes. Register Now!
Nominations for 2023 Board of Directors
Now is the time to express your interest in being a candidate for the 2023 Board of Directors. The open positions include: · President-Elect, 3-year commitment · Director of Finance, 2-year commitment · Director at Large, 2-year commitment (two open positions)
Candidates are required to have the following “in good standing” qualifications: 1. Membership: Current member of PMI-MN as recorded by PMI 2. Attendance or volunteered in the past 16 months: Attended three Chapter events and/or volunteered a minimum of 40 hours 3. Conduct: PMI Member and PMI Minnesota Chapter member in good standing. 4. Volunteer agreement: Have a signed volunteer agreement on file All candidates interested in running for election need to have expressed interest and submitted the required bio packet by August 4, 2023 to be included in the vetting process. Elections are held in September.
To learn more about the process or express interest in nomination, contact the Nominating Committee via NominatingCommittee@pmi-mn.org.
Looking for one-year commitment instead? PMI-MN also appoints committee chairs annually. PMI-MN has the following standing committees:
· Community Outreach Membership
· Information Technology (IT) Marketing and Communications (MarComm) Professional Development (ProfDev) Programs Finance
· Sponsors Volunteer Services Professional Development Days (PDD) Operations (Chaired by the President-Elect) Express your interest in a Chair position by emailing NominatingCommittee@pmi-mn.org.
Thank you from this year’s Nomination Committee: Ruth Birkholz, Glory Ikeata, Jennifer Cary, and Thomas Sulzer. PMI ® Global Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion PMI, as a global organization, has established a position about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This statement is posted on the PMI website:
As a global leader enabling individuals to create a positive impact through projects, PMI champions a diverse, inclusive, and equitable community – one that serves our millions of stakeholders, including staff, volunteers, members, credential holders, and the profession at large. We embrace and celebrate our differences, and work to create an environment of respect, trust, integrity and fairness in our words and actions. We commit ourselves to empower individuals to do their best work. We aspire to act as a catalyst to bridge cultures, geographies, and differences, and to enable people and organizations to positively impact society.
July Board Member Spotlight This month, we spotlight our Director at Large, Ken Schacher. Thank you so much for all the hard work, dedication, and long hours of continuous work! Ken Began career as software engineer working on GM plant monitoring and control modernization. This involved multiple products (including internal and external). Various projects took to me to different GM plants for configuration and implementations.After he was responsible for contract proposal for Controls engineering to support Behlehem Steel's modernization program with new continuous caster. They won this project (approx. $3M of $300M modernization project) and he transitioned into analysis and design phase of the controls.
Ken worked as an IT Project Manager responsible for variety of software development projects, including modifications to ReTek to support expansion of Mainstreet Direct into Canada. Ken was IT Project Manager for EDS working on the Bank of America account. Responsible for a wide variety of Network projects, including network upgrades at various bank branches, FIPS security for Congress representatives using BoA credit cards, implementation of TellerScore (targeted advertising for services while customers are at a teller window), analysis of northeast network with selected upgrades. And for the last seven years Ken has been managing a variety of IT projects: Acquisitions, ITO upgrades, 3rd party software integration and software development at CLA
Ken had climbed 5 mountains and loved backpacking. Loves spending time with his 3 nephews nearby! Thanks again for all your hard work, support, leadership and guidance, and we appreciate for all you do. | 
