Project Management for Future Leaders

I have had a lot of rewarding experiences with PMI. I’ve been volunteering since 1989 when I started the first student chapter of PMI at Western Carolina University.  I’ve really enjoyed being a Chapter President of the NC chapter and a Regional Mentor for Region 5.  For the past 6 years I’ve had the wonderful privilege of being a director of the PMI Educational Foundation (PMIEF). An experience that has been one of the most rewarding and satisfying experiences of my life.

I started on the PMIEF Board at a very exciting time.  Prior to 2011 PMIEF was mostly self-funded and focused their resources on providing scholarships and awards.  However, in 2011 PMI realized the strategic importance of PMIEF in meeting their strategic objectives related to Project Management for Social Good.  So, they funded a Vision-Driven Project to enable Project Management for 13 to 19 year olds.  This project had been approved just before I joined the board.  I was very lucky to see the project flourish and provide the foundation for the future impact by PMIEF.

One key strategy that has enabled the success of PMIEF is to enable others to be successful.  So, PMIEF staff worked with  experts in Project Based Education to build an infrastructure of experts and asked them what they would focus on to enable Project Management Education for 13 to 19 year olds.  This group of experts is called the Project Learning Network (PLN).  PMIEF convened PLN in a series of meetings to brainstorm the best approach to bringing the most value through project management to our youth.   During the first of these meetings it was exciting to see the participants realize the potential of working together to create new programs that enable teachers and students in the classroom.

Through a series of strategic grants to many of these expert organization, PMIEF has enabled teachers and students throughout the world to enhance their learning through project management.  These grants have shown proven results and have reached several thousand students around the world.  PMIEF board members worked with PMIEF staff to capture metrics to show the outputs, outcomes, and the direct impact of the grants.  PMIEF is working toward showing that direct impact on students as they gain more confidence in their ability to achieve more in the classroom through project management.

In the past six years, PMIEF staff and the board have matured the approach to enabling Project Based Learning for 13 to 19 year olds and have developed a roadmap of strategic initiatives to bring the benefits of project management to other younger age groups in school.

PMIEF also focused on enabling non-profit organizations on the front lines of helping society.  Using the same philosophy of enabling experts to be successful, PMIEF has provided several grants to non-profit organizations to deliver more for social good.

As part of the Project Management for Future Leaders collaborative blog, my series on this subject will go deeper into:

• How Project Based Learning enables 21st century skills;

• What  project based learning is and how PMIEF is working with the Buck Institute;

• How are students more engaged in school through Project Management; and,

• How a PMI chapter can increase their social good programs

The  experience being on the PMIEF board has changed my life:   I saw first hand the impact project management can have on the lives of young people and the direct impact on their future success.