Speakers

Beth is a PMO Leader, Program Manager, and Change Driver with degrees in Computer Engineering (B.S.) and Computer Science (M.S.) and experience on large system development programs. As an Independent Management and Engineering Consultant, she supported a range of clients from Fortune 100 companies to small businesses and non-profits through paid engagements and volunteer activities. She is currently a Program Management Director at T-Rex Solutions, LLC and the Chief Operating Officer at Project Management for Change (PM4C).

Steve Salisbury has helped dozens of executives grow their businesses. Steve’s unique approach is all about understanding and adjusting organizational culture and then executing strategy quickly, effectively, and with the highest return possible. Steve evaluates interpersonal, organizational, and process elements to eliminate cross-functional dysfunction and builds teams to create a leadership culture to drive exponential growth. Steve has worked with some of the world’s most recognizable organizations to drive growth by creating capacity, galvanizing leaders, and driving accountability. Comfortable in culturally diverse settings, Steve has worked in many international companies throughout Asia, Latin America, and Europe, as well as in the United States. In 2020, Steve published his first book, Activate: 15 Steps to Profitable Strategy Execution. The Activate approach demonstrates how to drive greater profitability faster. Steve also serves as a volunteer mentor for SCORE Chicago, an organization that provides small business advice to help companies start, grow, and operate efficiently. When speaking, Steve weaves in lessons from his rich and broad history, including agriculture, winemaking, lay ministry, and leadership – in addition to his varied corporate, public sector, and not-for-profit business and leadership experience. Steve spent most of his adult life in southwestern Michigan and recently returned there after living in Chicago for ten years. He now lives with his wife on the southwestern Michigan family vineyard estate his parents bought in the 1960s.

Michael has had an extensive career on both sides of the Atlantic. Originally from Los Angeles, Michael has called Vienna, Austria his home for over 30 years. Apart from holding experience within Service Delivery and Product Management, Michael has more than 20 years experience within the Project Management, Program Management, Portfolio Management and Business Analysis domains. In addition, Michael is teaching Agile Organization at a local University in Vienna.

Gabriele Maussner-Schouten is a respected project consultant and coach with more than 20 years of experience developing and implementing practical solutions for project management success and organizational value. Taking a highly people-focused approach to projects, she emphasizes principles and practices that individuals at all organizational levels can apply to achieve success. Her expertise in managing large projects for both private and public-sector organizations ranges from mission-critical ERP implementations and content management solutions to providing leadership for enterprise-wide communication and change strategies. She also has taught strategic supply chain management at Centennial College and Humber College in Toronto. Gabriele holds an MBA from Dalhousie University and a business degree from Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm in Germany. She received her PMP certification in 2005 and is Six Sigma Green Belt Certified (SSGBC)™ from York University. Gabriele is a registered Coach Practitioner and a member of the International Coaching Federation and is an approved speaker for TEC Canada. She is fluently bilingual in English and German.

Mr. Cable is the Executive Director of the Project Management Center for Excellence, as well as a licensed architect and general contractor with over 40 years’ experience. Since joining the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland in the fall of 1999, John initiated the graduate program in project management, two undergraduate minors, and the Center for Excellence in Project Management. He is widely sought after for his seminars and workshops on a variety of Project Management topics. John is also a founding member of the International Project Management Educational Union along with Peking University and 6 other universities worldwide. PM Academic Leadership. In 2004, he coauthored a report for the National Academy of Sciences Federal Facilities Council on “Key Performance Indicators for Federal Facilities Portfolios”. In 2013, he was awarded the Lilly Fellowship for innovation in teaching and in 2014, he was selected to represent the Clark School of Engineering in the National Academy of Engineering “Frontiers of Engineering Education” for his work in creating and managing the highly acclaimed on-line master’s degree program in Project Management. In 2018 the program launched its first Professional Certificate with edX in Agile Project Management. In 2019 this certificate was named in the top ten most popular MOOC’s, #3 out of 3400 courses by Class Central. PMI Leadership. In 2012, he was awarded PMI’s 2012 Distinguished Contribution Award for his leadership of the Global Accreditation Center. John is also a founder and chairman emeritus of the Project Management Institute’s Global Accreditation Center Board of Directors; he stepped down after 15 years of service on the board 1 January 2016. In xxxx the PM Center for Excellence became the host for the PM4Change annual day of service in which local PM’s teach nonprofits how to write a scope of work. In 2014 the Center launched an annual 2 day symposium for project managers and academics to share ideas, best practices, and lessons learned. This highly successful event has grown to attract over 400 participants including a significant international representation. Public Sector Leadership. Prior to joining the University, Mr. Cable was a Research Fellow in the Logistics Management Institute’s Facilities and Engineering Management group. He managed a variety of lead assignments analyzing facility design and construction practices, conducting benchmarking and business process re-engineering studies, assessing the use of information technology in the management of design and construction, managed business and program planning assignments, and training/assisting clients in becoming certified in compliance with ISO9000 Quality Management Standards. Private Sector Leadership. Prior to LMI, John created and managed a design/build firm specializing in renovation and new construction of residential, commercial and retail properties and directed energy conservation research in buildings for the U.S. Department of Energy. His activities have included planning, design, and construction of buildings; building energy conservation research; management consulting; and teaching. In 1980 he was cited by Engineering News-Record as “one who served in the best interests of the building industry.” In 1992, he was selected by Remodeling Magazine as one of the 50 best remodeling contractors in the United States.

Stuart Easton is the founder and CEO of TransparentChoice. He is on a mission to help PMOs deliver successful projects. A guest lecturer on project prioritization at the University of Oxford, Stuart also speaks at various PMO conferences and events. His talks usually focus on how PMOs can deliver strategic value, identify waste and eliminate pet projects.

Joe Cudby is a Managing Entrepreneur at NEXT Studios, an Indianapolis-based Venture Studio, by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs, with entrepreneurs. Originally from England, Cudby has spent the past 25+ years working in technology in Pittsburgh, PA, Washington, D.C. and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana in ’16. With a deep technical background, he has worked in and around Managed Hosting, Professional Services, Product Management, and Federal Government Security. During his career, he has worked at bootstrapped startups, Private Equity funded scale-ups, Publicly traded enterprises, and the Public Sector where he spent 15 months as CTO with the Indiana State Office Of Technology. He has been an active angel investor since ’13. Cudby earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Smith School at the University of Maryland.

Bharat Nain is a Lead Software Developer at WGSN, with 12+ years of experience in software engineering and project management. Over the past decade, he has led several multi-disciplinary engineering teams developing consumer-facing products across the e-commerce and video streaming space. In his work with companies like AMC Networks, Optus Sport, Sundance Now, and The Vitamin Shoppe, he has been able to transform strategic plans into tangible, effective solutions. His hands-on organizational leadership style has enabled him to attract, build and nurture high-performing engineering teams. He began honing his leadership skills more than 15 years ago during his work as a FIRST Robotics technical advisor and mentor, a volunteer role which he continues to this day, managing teams of more than 80 people at international robotics events from Istanbul to Mexico City.

Joe Sopko, PMP, MSP, P3O is an independent organizational project management consultant, trainer and a joint recipient of the 2013 Shingo Prize Research Award as a contributing author to The Guide to Lean Enablers for Managing Engineering Programs. With decades of project and program leadership across the defense and commercial sectors, Joe has been an advocate of program management as a key methodology for leading organizational or market transformation as well as value-focused initiatives such as Lean. As a practicing organizational project management consultant for over 15 years, Joe has been a thought-leader regarding the practical use of program management and multiple maturity model approaches as enablers for establishing a business-relevant PMO with a focus on improving and sustaining organizational excellence and agility. Joe has been an active participant and core team member in the development, review and practical application of PMI’s OPM3® Standard and AXELOS (UK) Managing Successful Programmes (MSP). He recently served as the committee vice-chair for the PMI Standard for Organizational Project Management and is a former member of the ISO US Technical Advisory Group for Project, Programme and Portfolio Standards (ISO/TC258).

Greg Githens, PMP is a well known speaker and thought leader project and program management. He is the author of “How to Think Strategically. Sharpen Your Mind. Develop Your Competency. Contribute to Success.” that was nominated for PMI’s Book of the Year award.