Thomas C. Bowen is a political communications and management professional with a decade of experience in some of the most interesting and exciting organizations in the country.

He has managed six campaigns ranging from Chicago City Council to U.S. Senate, and has worked and consulted on dozens of federal and local races across the country, including the 2008 presidential campaign for Barack Obama. He was most recently the deputy campaign manager for Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago’s first new mayor in 22 years and later established and managed his leadership Political Action Committee.

He regularly provides commentary as an expert source on political issues for Chicago-based media organizations and is often quoted in national publications for his expertise on politics. He has provided commentary and analysis for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the National Journal, POLITICO, and the NY Daily News.

Bowen launched his career in politics as a press aide to then State Senator Barack Obama working under communications director Robert Gibbs. He previously worked in Washington, D.C as a staff assistant to Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and as a reporter for the National Journal under Senior Hotline Editor Chuck Todd.

Tom earned his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Illinois Wesleyan University and currently lives in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago with his wife Aviva.

Dr. Oliver Schlake is a Clinical Professor at Robert H. Smith School of Business, a senior business consultant, entrepreneur and researcher. His publications and research on scenario-based strategic planning and innovation strategy have been featured in leading academic and practitioner journals worldwide. Oliver has been an international management consultant and strategic advisor for leading companies and government agencies in Europe and North-America. Prior to joining the Smith School he was Assistant Professor for E-Business at National University, San Diego and CEO for German based consulting firm Scenario Management International (ScMI AG).

Mike Hannan is Founder & Principal Consultant at Fortezza Consulting, a management consulting firm whose innovative techniques help organizations achieve dramatic improvements in project portfolio performance. Mike brings nearly 25 years’ experience as a Consulting Executive, IT Project Portfolio and Program Manager, Process Engineer, and Software Architect, and still doesn’t know what he wants to do when he grows up. His background in Project Portfolio Management (PPM) started at NASA in the early 1990s supporting large, complex initiatives such as the International Space Station and High-Performance Computing & Communications (HPCC) programs. Since then he has managed and consulted on $500M+ project portfolios, and trained CIOs and other senior executives in Federal Civilian, Military, and Commercial environments. He is also the author of the recent best-selling book, “The CIO’s Guide to Breakthrough Project Portfolio Performance.”

Stephen started working in the wine industry at Groot Constantia Winery, the oldest winery in South Africa, as a pourer and tour guide. Through various courses of events he managed to find a position in the cellar as a cellar worker and then eventually became the assistant winemaker there. He studied Enology and Viticulture at Elsenburg Agricultural College. Upon completion of his studies Stephen became the assistant winemaker at Flagstone Winery where he worked exclusively with red wines.

Through the Ohio State Internship program he came to Virginia in 2002 and joined Keswick Vineyards as an intern and held that position until May 2004 when he took the position of Winemaker at Rappahannock Cellars. In June of 2006 he re-joined Keswick Vineyards as the Winemaker and General Manager.

Stephen’s philosophy for winemaking is minimal intervention. He prefers to focus on the vineyard to produce optimal fruit for wine making.. Keswick Vineyards is one of the few wineries that ferments most of its wines without the addition of yeast and do not fine or filter any of their reds since the 2006 harvest. Keswick Vineyards is committed to producing world class wines and are now seeing the potential Virginia, as well as Keswick Vineyards, has to offer.

John Gilroy has been involved in the tech community in Washington, D.C. for over twenty years. He has been on WAMU 88.5 FM as one of The Computer Guys since 1991. Also, he has conducted 390 interviews on Federal News Radio. In addition to his 218 blog posts, he has written 523 columns for The Washington Post. In 2014, John won the Tropaia Award for outstanding faculty at Georgetown University. His day job is leading the social media marketing team at BLT.

Duncan Chappell, PMP, is an experienced Project Manager with his main focus being IT infrastructure. He joined ExxonMobil at the age of sixteen in 1979 and has worked in a number of roles spending the early part of his career at sea training as a Deck Officer. With no seagoing jobs available after qualifying he made the unusual move to be an accounts payable clerk, then moved into transport planning and onto a being a transport supervisor. He got into IT and projects whilst standing in for a systems analyst during a UK wide system upgrade in 1987.

Roles followed as a Systems Analyst, Network Analyst, Infrastructure Coordinator, Quality Assurance Manager, Co-dependent Projects Analyst and Project Manager with the roles becoming wider reaching in geography, technology and responsibility. Types of projects worked on include the pilot for what became a global SAP implementation, a global server and desktop roll-out, and a global HR SAP system upgrade. He is currently the PM for the network device replacement program working with teams that span from Melbourne to Calgary, and also runs the Data Privacy Reengineering project with a US & Europe based team.

Outside of work Duncan is a keen volunteer. He was a school governor for 13 years, was an executive on the Oxfordshire Governors Association for 5 years and has been actively involved in the Project Management Institute (PMI) UK Chapter since 2007. He was the PM for the PMI UK Chapter annual event in 2008 for which he picked up the PMI EMEA Volunteer Leader of the Year award. He was the PMI UK Chapter Communications Director for three years, then two years as the President and is currently the University Outreach Director. He is married to Vanessa and has two children, Robert in his second year at the University of the Arts, London and Nicole who is her first year at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Raji Sivaraman is a long time certified PMP (Project Management Professional) and has a Master of Science in Project Management. She is a citizen of Singapore and is currently living in Princeton, NJ. She speaks several languages and has worked in many countries including Singapore, Thailand, India, and USA.

She has been a part of the Project Management Institute, for well over a decade, rising through the ranks from a volunteer to a Global position. Currently, she is a part of the Chapter Member Advisory Group of PMI Global. As a Consultant, she has worked in many industries such as IT, publishing, billing solutions, financial services, education, and logistics industries.

Chris is Senior Learning and Teaching Adviser for the Institute for Learning Enhancement and Innovation, Faculty Curriculum Development Manager and Senior Academic in the Faculty of Arts, Design & Technology of the University of Derby in the UK.

A classically trained musician and practitioner in the technological arts with approaching 20 years experience of teaching in higher education, Chris has presented and published widely on the subjects of creativity, artistry, technology and education, and is an active member of the American Creativity Association, Associate and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, principle researcher of the Creative Technologies Research Group, and associate of the Digital and Material Arts Research Centre in the UK.

A seasoned consultant and management professional, Kendall has been a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) of the Project Management Institute (PMI) since 2002. His volunteer service in promoting the project management profession has included his work on the international Program Management Standards Committee for PMI and in serving as a volunteer PMP Certification instructor. His volunteer service with PMIWDC has extended over 10 years, and now as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chair of the chapter, he is starting his 7th year as a member of the board. Previous positions he has filled on our board include Vice Chair, Director At Large, Vice President of Marketing, and Assistant Vice President of Communications. He also served as the chapter’s education outreach volunteer and started his volunteer career on the registration desk at our monthly dinners. With a strong admiration for the value of project management as a management science and method of bringing the reality of constraints to public problems, Kendall enjoys employing the basics of project management to way too many areas of his life…including scoping, scheduling and performing risk analysis (much to the family’s chagrin) on family vacations. And, he also uses the PM basics in his consulting practice often.

Beyond volunteering at the chapter, his experience with public service extends through his consulting experience, to his civil service experience at the US Department of Justice and Department of Agriculture. He started his service focus with the US Peace Corps in the Federated States of Micronesia. Kendall’s career has focused on modernization and transformation, particularly in the area of information technology (IT), bringing Project Management, Program Management, and Organizational Change Management practices to bear on government problems. While overseas, he managed multi-cultural international teams in India, Malaysia, and Jordan. These projects focused on education, government operations, and citizen-facing services. For the U.S. Government, Kendall has worked with senior executives and managers to enhance organizational effectiveness within the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Energy, and the Defense Logistics Agency.

Kendall holds a Master of Pacific International Affairs degree from the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from Indiana University, Bloomington.

Marcus Parker is a Program Manager and Business Process Improvement professional with 15 years of experience. His experience has allowed him to hold engineering and senior project management roles for several world class companies which include Xerox, Ciena, and Home Depot. He is currently a Program Manager at the Department of Defense. Marcus is a proud alumnus of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. In 1998 he achieved a Bachelor of Science degree in Manufacturing Engineering, and in 2002 he completed a Master of Science degree with concentrations in Product Development and Technology Management. He has published several articles in Department of Defense publications on Business Process Improvement using Lean Six Sigma and project management methodologies. Marcus serves as President of the Project Management Institute (PMI), Silver Spring Maryland Chapter which has 600 plus members. He is also on the Board of Directors for the American Society of Quality (ASQ), Baltimore Maryland Chapter. He is also an adjunct Professor at Trinity University in Washington, D.C. where he teach project management at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Since 2009, he has also trained over 175 certified Project Management Professionals (PMP®) in the Baltimore – Washington metro area.      

Greg Balestrero has been a global advocate for excellence in performance management and business results. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he has been a project engineer, project manager, and for the last 30 years, a senior executive of professional membership associations related to engineering and project management. From 2002 – 2011, Greg served as the President and CEO of Project Management Institute (PMI®). He has met with business and government leaders in more than 60 countries, advocating and promoting a project focus in engineering, construction, and a broad range of business sectors. This exposure has shaped his thinking and message, reinforcing the need that organizations must transform to sustain themselves, integrating the values of community and the planet, with their own corporate strategies and values.

Through his work at IIL as strategic advisor, Greg aims to help global corporations discover how they can change their strategies to focus on serving their communities and the planet, while being or becoming market leaders.Greg Balestrero has been a global advocate for excellence in performance management and business results. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he has been a project engineer, project manager, and for the last 30 years, a senior executive of professional membership associations related to engineering and project management. From 2002 – 2011,

Greg served as the President and CEO of Project Management Institute (PMI®). He has met with business and government leaders in more than 60 countries, advocating and promoting a project focus in engineering, construction, and a broad range of business sectors. This exposure has shaped his thinking and message, reinforcing the need that organizations must transform to sustain themselves, integrating the values of community and the planet, with their own corporate strategies and values.

Through his work at IIL as strategic advisor, Greg aims to help global corporations discover how they can change their strategies to focus on serving their communities and the planet, while being or becoming market leaders.

Tara Melvin, a southern girl at heart was born and raised in Elizabethtown, North Carolina and in 1996 transitioned to the Washington, DC Metropolitan area. Before making DC her new home, she began carving her future with her education. Tara, a graduate of North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina earned a bachelor’s degree in Marketing with a minor in Business Administration. Since graduation, her professional career has spanned in the field of Sales & Marketing within the pharmaceutical, industrial, and hospitality industry. During her professional career she learned and maintained valuable traits in regards to organizational skills, people management, negotiation skills, management skills, and attention to detail, while maintaining grace under pressure. Several years later, Tara discovered her passion for wedding and event planning after planning numerous affairs at her home and for her friends. It was only after planning a spectacular New Year’s Eve event at her home that one of her friends suggested that she should go into business for herself because they felt as if she had the gift and talent to be a successful wedding and event planner. In 2004, Tara created Perfect Planning and Signature Concepts, LLC, an event planning and management company that offers a complete array of services to cover all facets of event planning for luxurious weddings, social and corporate events, from start to finish. Services include but not limited to event coordination, vendor management, project plan creation, event itinerary creation, and risk and issue management. It is her philosophy to deliver exceptional service, a peace of mind, and a memorable celebration for her Clients and their guests. And to be “the key resource” for her Clients, as she designs, plans, manages, and produces their celebration. Since the creation of Perfect Planning, the company has organized numerous lavish events from weddings to retirement celebrations, birthday celebrations to family reunions, corporate events and beyond. Tara is also active within the wedding community serving as President of the Association of Wedding Professionals of Greater Washington, DC, 2014 WeddingWire Ambassador, and former member of the Association of Bridal Consultants. As the creative engine and leader of Perfect Planning, Tara is excited to offer her clients a highly personalized experience resulting in an extraordinary memorable and stress free affair. Her remarkable attention to detail and exceptional ability to capture the vision of her Clients has made Tara a valuable asset within the industry. With her expertise, creativeness, passion, managerial aptitude, compassion for her work, and bodacious style-her weddings and special events are those of flawless distinction.    

For more than 25 years, Jim York has led, trained, and coached individuals, teams, and organizations in the implementation of Lean and Agile ideas. He is a Certified Scrum Coach and Certified Scrum Trainer. His coaching and workshops blend his practical experience in Scrum, Lean Software Development, Extreme Programming, Product Management, and traditional project management. Jim shares his passion for teaching as a frequent presenter at conferences, users groups, public and onsite workshops, and as a business process coach. In 2007, he cofounded FoxHedge Ltd (http://foxhedgeltd.com) with his wife, Melissa York. Their mission is to coach leaders to build effective teams and products.

Elizabeth McQueen is the Branch Chief, International Trade Data System, at Customs of Border Protections. She is also PMIWDC's 2014 Chapter Vice-Chair. Elizabeth was elected as a chapter Director at Large in 2012, but her involvement with PMI and volunteering began several years earlier.

Elizabeth joined PMI and the Washington DC Chapter, and attained her PMP certification, in 2005. She started volunteering the following year with the Business Process Assessment committee, eventually managing the Business Process Definition project in 2008. In 2009, she accepted an appointment to the role of Assistant Vice President for Records Management. During her tenure as the AVP, and then the VP of Records Management, Elizabeth worked with each operational area to help define their processes and create reusable templates, and to clean up each area’s SharePoint site.

Elizabeth served one term as the VP of Records Management before being elected as a Director-at-Large to the Governance Board beginning in January 2012. The Governance Board appointed her as Vice-Chair for 2014, switching her tenure with another DAL to allow her to subsequently serve as Chair in 2015.

From a professional perspective, Elizabeth is currently Director of Program Control for Customs and Border Protection’s Cargo Systems Program Directorate, within the Department of Homeland Security. Prior to her work with DHS, she owned Process Evolution Group (PEG), a business process improvement and project / program management training corporation.

Elizabeth graduated in 1988 from the University of Texas at Austin, with a BS degree in Advertising. She lives in Alexandria, VA with her husband Steve and their tri-color Shetland Sheepdog, Bella. Outside of her professional work and time spent volunteering with the Chapter, she enjoys cooking, yoga, and travel with her family.

Kimberly Hancher is a long time member of the Federal Information Technology (IT) community. She began her Federal career at the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1981.

In the 1980’s she implemented the VA’s first enterprise wide electronic mail system. After 15 years at the VA, she joined the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to lead the agency’s electronic government (e-gov) program. During her 10 years at the FCC, the agency deployed over 20 online, web based transaction systems and implemented mandatory electronic filing. She joined the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as Chief Information Officer in 2008 and is leading several transformational efforts there. She is a valued member of the Federal senior executive service; known for her ability to leverage IT, create a shared vision of the future, and serve as a mentor/role model for aspiring IT professionals.

Mrs. Hancher is also active in charitable organizations. She was President and CIO of The Angels Network (www.theangelsnetwork.org), a charitable group that raises funds for transitional housing and homeless programs in the DC metro area. She currently serves as a board member on the Government Information Technology Executive Council (GITEC). And she is a lifetime member of the Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary. In 2007 she received the President’s Volunteer Service Award in recognition of her commitment to community service.

Mr. Brese is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Department of Energy (DOE). He provides leadership, establishes policy, and maintains oversight of DOE’s annual $2 billion investment in information technology (IT), at more than 25 National Laboratories and Production Facilities, to enable urgent missions that span from open science to nuclear security. Mr. Brese is also a leader in the U.S. Government’s cybersecurity community and a key contributor to the Administration’s efforts in legislation, policy and technology research, development, and deployment. He is a Chair to the CIO Council’s Management Best Practices Committee and also serves as an advisor to the Domestic Policy Council’s Strong City, Strong Community Pilot. Prior to his current assignment, Mr. Brese served as DOE’s Deputy CIO.

Previously, Mr. Brese was the Deputy CIO for Information Technology for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and also the Director of the Office of Program Evaluation within Defense Nuclear Security in NNSA, where he began his civilian career and his tenure in Senior Executive Service.

Prior to working in NNSA, Mr. Brese served as a submarine officer in the U.S. Navy, retiring after a 22-year career, which culminated in his assignment as a Senior Advisor to the Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs within NNSA.

Mr. Brese holds a Federal Chief Information Officer Certificate from The National Defense University. He obtained a Master of Science from Catholic University of America, was a qualified Naval Nuclear Propulsion Engineer in the U.S. Navy’s Nuclear Propulsion Program, and received a Bachelor of Engineering at Vanderbilt University.

Mr. Cable is a licensed architect and general contractor with over 35 years experience. 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.” And, in 1992 he was selected by Remodeling Magazine as one of the 50 best remodeling contractors in the United States.

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, an undergraduate minor, and the Center for Excellence in Project Management.

He teaches courses in Project Management Fundamentals, and Managing Projects in a Dynamic Environment and is widely sought after for his seminars and workshops on a variety of Project Management topics. John is also chairman of the Project Management Institute’s Global Accreditation Center Board of Directors, a member of the Federal Government’s Project Management Working Group, and a member of the Science & Engineering Council of NASA’s Center for Program/Project Management Research. John is also a founding member of the International Project Management Educational Union along with Peking University and 6 other universities worldwide. In 2004 he coauthored a report for the National Academy of Sciences Federal Facilities Council on “Key Performance Indicators for Federal Facilities Portfolios”.

Prior to joining the University, Mr. Cable was a Research Fellow in the Logistics Management Institute’s Facilities and Engineering Management group where 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.

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.

Ms. Vandergrift has worked in production management at Washington DC’s Shakespeare Theatre Company for the past seven seasons. At STC, she helped develop new approaches and standards necessary in operating the institution’s expanded programming and venues. She has been instrumental in facilitating the presentation of several remarkable productions from abroad, and she is a key member of senior staff, participating in strategic planning, season planning, and budgeting.

Prior to her tenure at STC, Ms. Vandergrift was the production manager for Hartford Stage. She has project managed for various music and arts festivals throughout the US. Ms. Vandergrift’s early career was fifteen years as a professional stage manager, working with a rich variety of artists at both domestic and foreign venues. She earned her MFA in Stage Management from the University of California, San Diego and a double major in English and Theatre from Oberlin College.

Max is a dedicated non-profit advocate with nearly two decades of leadership experience in the field. After graduating from GWU with an MA in Latin American Studies, Max founded Kid Power in 2002. In his 10 years as the Executive Director, Kid Power operated high-quality academic, nutritional, and service-learning programs for thousands of young people throughout the District.

Currently, Max is the DC Director for the Taproot Foundation, a national organization leading, mobilizing and engaging professionals in pro bono service to drive social change. He resides in DC with his wife Erica and their son Julian.

Jordon Sims is the Director of Organization Relations and Programs for the Project Management Institute. In his current role, Jordon is responsible for overseeing PMI’s relationships around the globe for both the public and private sector. He ensures the most effective approach for industry leading corporations and governments to realize positive business results through effective project, program, and portfolio management.

Jordon is responsible for PMI’s presence, at the organization level, in the Americas (US, Canada, & Latin America) and Austral-Asia with businesses, federal government entities, and parliamentary/legislative bodies. Jordon leads the PMI Global Executive Council, an elite network of professionals from leading companies, governments and organizations

Prior to joining PMI, Jordon served over ten years as a nuclear trained submarine officer in the US Navy and held several unique positions as foreign liaison to the Chief of Naval Operations, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of Defense. He was selected as a Defense Legislative Fellow and served on the personal staff of a senior Member of the US House of Representatives Appropriations Committee. In his capacity as defense advisor, Jordon handled all aspects of both the State Department and Department of Defense budgeting and funding process.

Jordon’s variety of assignments also included work as Special Assistant to the Director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion (Naval Reactors) in a dual-hatted Department of Defense and Department of Energy role. He was responsible for all aspects of governmental affairs for the US submarine and aircraft carrier programs.

Jordon holds a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Economics from the US Naval Academy, and a Master of Engineering Management (MEM) from Old Dominion University.