PMI-DVC Connect
February 2021, Volume 1, Issue 2
From the Editor – Welcome to the February Issue of our Chapter’s newsletter, PMI-DVC Connect!
In this issue we spotlight a volunteer who will support Marketing,
Communication, and Social Media, highlight volunteers who assisted in last month’s Future City Competition, point out upcoming courses in the PMP® Exam preparation and the CAPM® Exam preparation, mention upcoming Chapter events, draw attention to a new PMI® member benefit called
Standards+, celebrate chapter members who achieved important milestones and mourn the loss of a PMI® cherished leader.
We will designate the Inaugural Issue (January 2021) as Volume 1, Issue 1. Frank T. Anbari, PhD, PMP
Newsletter Editorial Team: Frank T. Anbari, Amber Hill.
Volunteer Spotlight: Sikemi Williams, PMP®
Sikemi Williams holds a B.S. in Business Administration, from the University of Lagos, a Graduate Diploma in Creative and New Media from Pan-Atlantic University, a Master in Business Administration from the University of Lagos, a Graduate Certificate from Penn State University, and is a certified Project Management Professional.
With over 10 Years of experience in managing projects, Sikemi started out managing content creation projects for TV Broadcasts. She later managed Healthcare and IT projects. Her latest endeavor was with the Campbell Soup Company, where she worked with the Project Management team to facilitate a process improvement project.
A recent achievement worthy of mention is that Sikemi won a Mid-Atlantic Regional Emmy® in the Graphic Arts/Animation Category for a TV series titled Strange College, when she worked with the Community College of Philadelphia.
Sikemi is passionate about success and believes that learning and innovation work hand in hand to birth success. She is eager to add value as best as she can in this new opportunity, which is being the Director of Marketing, Communication, and Social Media for our Chapter.
Volunteer Highlights: Future City Competition
Many thanks to our volunteers who assisted with another successful Future City Competition! Following is a summary of the event from Ken Golkin, PMP, PMI-DVC VP of Academic Outreach.
- On January 30th over 500 middle school students, their teachers, and mentors from 25 schools went to the moon (virtually) to show off their Future Cities in the virtual Neil Armstrong Convention Center. The challenge for the students this year was: Design a future lunar city and provide examples of how your city uses two Moon resources to keep your citizens safe and healthy. Ten PMI-DVC members and over 100 other volunteers from the Philadelphia area supported the students on the day of the competition.
PMI-DVC is a Gold sponsor of the competition. The Future City Competition is the only STEM activity targeting middle school students that includes a project plan as a required deliverable. The technology team members who were the Zoom hosts and wizards behind the curtains included chapter members Ken Golkin, Audrey Wilson, Eddie Henderson (PMI-DVC VP of Technology), Jerzy Dutkiewicz, Priya Rajagopalan, and Kathy Lajoie Malik (PMI-DVC Executive Vice President). In addition to a very long Saturday, this team worked many hours planning the virtual competition and running training sessions for teachers, mentors, and other volunteers. Volunteering for this event touched many of the volunteers. Eddie Henderson commented: “It was such a wonderful and fulfilling feeling to be able to contribute to an awesome and equally successful event for our future leaders.” When I asked Jason Brown about his volunteer experience he replied: “I am very glad I could be a part of this event. It was quite an undertaking and achievement. The level of dedication and commitment by all is no small feat.” Priya Rajagopalan added “I am happy to have had the opportunity to help facilitate this event. It was rewarding to see the presentations from such talented kids and dedicated teachers especially with the constraints due to the pandemic.”
- Other Chapter members who volunteered included:
- Valerie Mebert and Abhijeet Banode - Model/Presentation/Q&A Judges.• JaneneMontlouis - Special Awards Judge
- Nissy Thambi - Special Awards Judge for
the Innovation in Workplace Design award.
- Luis Alberto Flores and Onome Eghagha
represented PMIEF and selected Drexel
Hill Middle School as the winner of the
Best Future City Project Plan award.
- Kim Kelly who is the teacher at St. Hillary’s
Middle School that won the competition
summed up the experience as it impacted the
students: “I cannot adequately express how
valuable and rewarding this program has been
for all of us. As a teacher, I’m amazed at the
profound effect this experience has had on each
student. All of them are literally “over the
Moon” this evening.”
If you want to have the most fun possible while earning PDUs and help the next generation of Scientists, Engineers, Technologists and Project Managers get a head start on their careers volunteer to help at the next Future City event, which will be an Engineering Fair in October. A technical background is not required, but enthusiasm is. To learn more, go to the Philadelphia Future City website www.futurecityphilly.org
Volunteer Opportunities: Volunteering is not only a way to give back to the professions; it is also a great way to earn PDU’s! Below are the volunteer opportunities we are highlighting this month. To see more opportunities, click here:
• Program Committee Team Members – The program committee provides PMI® members and volunteers with leadership roles/opportunities, networking, and leadership development and education events and activities.
• Finance Committee Member – Help volunteer with the PMI® Delaware Valley Chapter Finance and Investing committees!
Upcoming Chapter Events:
Chapter Meeting – Thursday, February 25, 2021. Project Management 2.0 – The Future of Project Management
- Speaker: John Bowen, Senior Consultant and Executive Speaker
- John will share with us the key characteristics of Project Management 2.0 and explain why it has emerged in response to the deficiencies of traditional project management. • Click here for more information and to register for this event.
Education Update:
Spring Courses: The chapter is offering the following courses this Spring:
- PMP® Exam Prep – This 35-hour preparation course meets the 35-hour requirement to apply to take the PMP® Exam and is intended for those who are experienced in project management, or who have already taken project management courses. The focus is on how best to prepare, study for, and take the PMP® credential examination. A review of material normally covered in the exam will be presented. Course begins February 27. Registration closes February 20.
- CAPM® Exam Prep – This 24-hour preparation course meets the 23-hour requirement to apply to take the CAPM® Exam and is intended for those who are new to project management, or who have less than the practical experience needed to take the PMP® Exam. The focus is on how best to prepare, study for, and take the CAPM® credential examination. A review of material normally covered in the exam will be presented. Students will receive sample questions of the type given on the exam.
- Virtual Agile Open House
- Topic: Demystifying Agile: Which flavor of Agile is right for my team/ project/ organization?
- Date & Time: 2/16/2021, at 7 – 8 PM EST. Check our Events Calendar for more details of future meetings.
- Facilitators: Leigh Ann Gunther, Director of Agile; Sanjoy Bhattacharjee, Disciplined Agile SME; and, Niki Weiss, PMI-DVC VP of Education
- https://pmi-dvc.org/whats-happening-events/event-calendar/special-events/pmi-dvc-virtual-agile-open-house-february-16-2021
Important News from PMI® – Standards+
Standards+ – Gather inspiration for all of your 2021 projects. Acquire, renew and refresh your knowledge with new content from PMIstandards+TM!
PMIstandards+ has original, how-to content that complements the Agile Practice Guide and PMBOK® Guide – Sixth Edition to help you apply its concepts to your projects in real time. Take a look today!
- 5 Benefits of Daily Stand Ups
- Using Agile Practices to Implement Organizational Change Management
- How to Get the Most Out of Your Daily Standup
- A Slow and Steady Introduction to Agile Through Hybrid
- 3 Techniques to Improve the Collect Requirements Process
PMI® members receive unlimited access as part of their member benefits! To access, simply login to PMIstandards+ using your PMI.org credentials and hit “subscribe”. For all other users, become a PMI® member today, or purchase a monthly PMIstandards+ subscription!
If you’re new to PMIstandards+, they post new content about every two weeks and will alert you via email. Enjoy this valuable tool and give us your thoughts using the feedback forms.
Member Certifications:
Congratulations to our newest Certificate holders who achieved certifications in December 2020 /January 2021:
- CAPM® – Ashley Lenhardt
- PMP® – Abhijeet Banode, David L. DiPaolo, John Mahoney, and Matthew McGinn
- PMI-ACP (Agile Certified Practitioner) – Ipsita Das and James Surrette
- 20-year anniversaries – Congratulations to our Certificate holders celebrating 20 years of certification in January 2021:
- PMP® – Donald Harpel and Barry Morrow
- 15-year anniversaries – Congratulations to our Certificate holders celebrating 15 years of certification in January 2021:
- PMP® – Daniel Bachovin, Sr., Larry Chiger, Jay Lynch, Cecilia Piehl, and Steve Sambrano
- 10-year anniversaries - Congratulations to our Certificate holders celebrating 10 years of certification in January 2021:
- PMP® – Karen Barton, Suzanne Hughson, William Lazorik, and Joshua Wright
- 5-year anniversaries – Congratulations to our Certificate holders celebrating 5 years of certification in January 2021:
- PMP® – Heather Arata, Linda Cavaliere, Sestina Collier, Kerry Guarino, Walter Hagar, Keith Hartington, Otelia Hudson, Lorraine Martindale, Polat Swanson, Patrick Simeon, Gina Sinovich, Benjamin Smith, Jr, Neil Teamerson, Tanesha Thomas-McClain, Deniz Yasemin, and Pamela Zucaro
Member Highlights:
- Congratulations to Robin Victor, who is celebrating 25 Years as a Chapter member!
- New Members – Welcome New Members who joined the Chapter in January 2021!
- Kathryn Auldridge, Elizabeth Baehr, Tiffany Baynard, Kayla Burley, Kimberly Burns, Nikki Cleary, Keith Cunningham, Mary Daly, Kim DeStefano, Paul Ethridge, Chris Galloway, Sean Gisonda, Andrew Grimm, Elizabeth Guest, Christine Jenkins, Utpal Kankeshwar, Katherine Kilpatrick, Mohnie Mangat, Scott Melnick, Michaela Miller, Peter Mitchell, Reema Modi, Joseph Monkoski, Nayan Patel, Anne Pollack, Alexis Scott, Asad Shaikh, Courtney Ulmer, and Matthew Weidman
- 20-year anniversaries – Congratulations to the following members who celebrated 20 years with the Chapter in January 2021: Gary Bevilacqua, Karean Eissler, Janet Watts Harkins, and Edward George Kashmere
15-year anniversaries – Congratulations to the following members who celebrated 15 years with the Chapter in January 2021: Max Borenstein, Devyn Colson, John Derzinski, Michael Hoehl, Paul Horbinski, Robby Muliawan, Sandra Roberts, Tina Segal-Miller, Todd Shevlin, and David Tobias
- 10-year anniversaries – Congratulations to the following members who celebrated 10 years with the Chapter in January 2021: Maureen DeOrio, Holly DiStefano, Juliet McQuillan, Matthew Mills, Timothy Murphy, Michael Ravenkamp, and Theresa Skorupa
- 5-year anniversaries – Congratulations to the following members who celebrated 5 years with the Chapter in January 2021: Nicholas DeGregorio, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Mark Kitchenman, John Manzoni, Elyse Miller, James Peters, Randy Phelps, Michael Romeu-Lugo, Lisa Semeraro, Christopher Thomas, Lanice Wilson, and Kenneth Wright
In Memoriam
We are deeply saddened by the news of the passing of PMI® Fellow, James J. "Jim" O'Brien, who passed peacefully on December 31, 2020 at the age of 91.
Jim served in many roles with PMI® from its early days, including serving as President in 1973 and Chairman from 1974 to 1975. Among his many honors, Jim received PMI's Distinguished Contribution Award in 1983 and the Project Team of the Year Award in 1988 from the PMI Delaware Valley Chapter, for his work as project executive on the Camden County Municipal Utility Authority Regional Waste Pollution Treatment Systems in New Jersey.
Jim was the author / co-author of 12 textbooks on various construction management topics, including the highly respected textbook CPM in Construction Management, which is co-authored with Fredric L. Plotnick, PhD, Esq, PE, and is now in its eighth edition. He was founder of the internationally renowned construction consulting firm, O'Brien-Kreitzberg & Associates, Inc.
Dr. Fredric L. Plotnick stated in his eulogy for Jim O'Brien as excerpted by Engineering News Record and others: “James J. O’Brien, PE, PMP, did not invent CPM. Nor did Thomas Edison invent the light bulb. But one developed the first commercially practicable incandescent light, and the other brought an academic oddity of a practical use for an electronic computer to the world… No, Jim did not create CPM, but the name James J. O’Brien is synonymous with Critical Path Method and its use in project management.”
Jim was born in Philadelphia, PA and was a longtime resident of Riverton, NJ. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Cornell University in 1952 and served proudly in the US Navy during the Korean War.
Jim was predeceased by his beloved wife Rita O'Brien and is survived by his loving three children, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
*2021 Annual Plan Goals*
Grow Emerging Professional Membership
Expand Engagement with Membership using Creative and Varied Methods to Deliver Value.
Expand and Engage with more Academic Institutions Building Relationships and Growing Membership.
