Project Management

"Every problem has a level of solution in your awareness." - Deepak Chopra

Certifications

My professional certifications

PMP

Project Management Professional
2019 - present
The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is a globally recognized credential offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI)

PMO-CP

Project Management Office Certified Practitioner
2024 - present
An elite PMO certification by PMI and PMO Global Alliance (PMOGA)

Consultant

Project Leadership Consultant specializing in mentorship of project leaders serving in management positions requiring successful stakeholder management and implementation of strategic initiatives

CB-PMO

Certified Baseline Project Management Office
2022 - present
PMO certification by PMO Global Institute (PMOGI)

Experience & Roles

VP, Project Management Office

2023 - 2024 - Designed and developed a Project Management Office; Lead, coach and mentor a PMO team for effective management of a project portfolio and execution of projects across The College that are aligned with the mission, strategic goals, and strategic focus areas. Advise and support the Executive Leadership Team to support and ensure efficient and effective project execution through project leadership best practices.

Project Leadership Consultant

2021 - 2023 Provided project leadership consulting to management staff involved in leadership of projects, programs, and portfolio management to optimize stakeholder management and successful implementations of strategic initiatives planned by the executive team.

AVP, Director, Projects and Program Management

2020 - 2021 - Established project management best practices and stood up business unit portfolio of projects and programs related to rapid development in E-learning; Lead enterprise-level projects aligned with strategic initiatives. Collaborate across departments to ensure successful project delivery. Primary manager of all department projects including tracking and coordination of program efforts working toward a shared organizational objective.

Project Management Consultant

2019 - Present - Project management consultant providing leadership of projects, programs, and portfolio management optimizing stakeholder management to successfully deliver within budget and timeframe a high quality outcomes that align with organizational initiatives.

Project Manager

2006 - 2019 - Developed and implemented course management framework to operationalize faculty training. Stood up CTL Project Portfolio and was awarded Professional Development Award of the Year for building project management tool for 38 projects; Core team member in establishing the Center for Teaching and Learning and primary LMS admin for course management, LMS migration to Sakai for faculty development. Lead LMS project team member for MOOC project, a CoI Community Course and presented at Sloan-C. Selected by Provost to serve on committee of four for AALE Advancing the Academic Learning Environment.

Training

How AI Will Transform Project Management: Reflections One Year Later

3/8/24 | Live Webinar | LinkedIn

Link: https://www.linkedin.com/events/7171626057765175296/

About: Ricardo Vargas and Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez in a free-flow conversation about their breakthrough Harvard Business Review article "How AI Will Transform Project Management," published one year ago. In the conversation, Antonio and Ricardo discuss trends, new technologies, and challenges project managers and organizations face to transform our work with technology.

Automate Projects with Artificial Intelligence - Oliver Yarbrough

2/11/24 | Training | LinkedIn - Link

Leveraging Generative AI for Project Management - Ricardo Vargas

7/30/23 | Training | LinkedIn - Link

Introducing the PMBOK® Guide—Seventh Edition - Cyndi Snyder Dionisio

6/28/21 | Training | LinkedIn - Link

Agile at Work: Reporting with Agile Charts and Boards - Doug Rose

5/3/20 | Training | LinkedIn - Link

Scrum: The Basics - Kelley O'Connell

5/1/19 | Training | LinkedIn - Link

Highlighted Projects

eLearning Projects

2022: NYL Mobilization Program (Enterprise): Program Manager and Lead Project Manager: The American College of Financial Services: Multi-year program with 4 projects to deliver modern specialty tracks to 6000+ NYL field agents and 500 managers within a $5 million budget: 2020 Phase 1/Project 1 successfully launched Financial Planning & systems integrations; 2021 Phase 2/Project 2 successfully launched Wealth Management, Test Outs, & upgraded systems integration; 2022-2023 Phase 3/Project 3 launched Estate Planning; 2023 Phase 4/Project 4 will launch Business Solutions; PM Tools: Smartsheet, Nostromo, Project website

2021: E-learn Commerce Platform B2B and B2C Build (Project): Project Management Consultant: Dr. Grady Batchelor and Associates, LLC: The objective of this project was to design, build, and deliver an online learning platform to offer continuing education training to financial professionals. I served as the project management consultant and the learning architect where I coordinated the execution of the research for infrastructure design, LMS layout, and course management. The ELC platform successfully launched with five modularized courses. PM and IT Tools: Nostromo, WordPress, Photoshop

2018: DarkNet Course Series for B2C on The Learning Platform (Department): Project Manager and LMS administrator: American Public University System

2018: Bundled Coaching and Mentoring Course Packs Launch (Department): Project Manager and LMS administrator: American Public University System

Project Leadership

2023: Ed Slott and Company Program (Enterprise): Program Manager and Lead Project Manager: The American College of Financial Services: Multi-year program with 3 projects to deliver an industry-first, on-demand, CE-eligible, 12-course program: 2020 Phase 1/Project 1 successfully designed and delivered a modernized, online program in a new platform for B2C model; 2021 Phase 2/Project 2 successfully revised and delivered an online program in an upgraded platform maintaining the B2C model; 2023 Phase 3/Project 3 delivered a revised version based on new tax laws and updated content; PM Tools: Smartsheet, Workzone, Department website

2019: AWS Cloud Certification Program: (Department): Project Manager, Lead Instructor, and LMS administrator: American Public University System: I replaced the project manager who had initiated this project and was tasked with recovering AWS stakeholder relationships and to bring the project back into scope and time. The objective was to partner with Amazon Web Services Academy to provide a training program for professional consumers seeking cloud practitioner certification. I led the successful design and development and served as the lead instructor after obtaining my AWS cloud instructor certification. I was also the LMS administrator to the platform.

More Project Management Experience

Visit me on LinkedIn to view more project management experience at https://www.linkedin.com/in/m-raven-townsend-7a205242/