by Mike Ososki, PMP, Communications Committee
They’ve been making the rounds at our events, pressing our flesh, kissing babies, and asking for our support to be elected. (Well, maybe not so much the babies part.) From November 10-21, you have the chance to exercise your freedom once again, and make your voice heard in PMI’s Atlanta Chapter. We have six great leaders stepping out, vying for three slots—
• For the Vice Chair spot, there’s Lydia James vs. Joe Sisto.
• It’s Barbara Wallace or Delton Zimmerman for Treasurer.
• And for Director 4, Sam Abdelaziz takes on Nara Acharya.
Here they all are in beautiful full living color ... and you can click on each name to read their Bio and Vision statement.
This won’t be an easy choice for you. Every candidate has plenty on the ball, with already proven performance records that eminently qualifies them to do a bang-up job. We are a fortunate group indeed.
Generally, every candidate emphasizes his/her dedication to add value to PMI Atlanta’s membership: to keep growing overall, and to increase member/volunteer participation (as we are 100% volunteer-run).
Following is a snapshot of some plans and priorities for each contender. Visit the website link above for more detail.
Vice Chair
• Lydia James, current VP of Volunteer Coordination, plans to conduct a survey, then prioritize based on the responses. Why are we members, why do we volunteer (or not), and what are our expectations? Increase member activities, networking, and professional development are part of her focus. She wants to be sure PMI Global is doing all it can for us, too. “Get enriched, and give back.”
• Joe Sisto describes himself as a servant leader and project management evangelist, committed to PMI principles. Enjoying business and PM professionalism, he will strive to build education. Additionally, he will increase our presence in the Atlanta business community by emphasizing more and improved partnering with corporations, in conjunction with other organizations.
Treasurer
• Barbara Wallace is passionate about PMI Atlanta and a booster for communication. She wants to include standardization and auditing, along with fully informing the membership where the money goes. As an experienced treasurer, she will be available as needed to help forums to set up budgeting and money planning as well.
• Delton Zimmerman also believes in open and accountable financial transparency. Efficient and effective, he will pressure the board if needed. He is PMI Atlanta’s current VP of Finance, and suggests we look at event planning value to membership: (e.g., $10 per Forum event vs. $40 per Dunwoody Dinner, while each earns 1 PDU).
Director 4
• Sam Abdelaziz likes to excite people, and encourages us to “imagine.” He wants to provide members with more access to jobs, by building strong, frequent-use bridges to Atlanta companies, so they look first to www.PMIAtlanta.com for PM talent, before other job boards. He’d also like the website to allow more network-expanding-inter-PM communication.
• Nara Acharya is always on the lookout to add sponsors, partners, and speakers, to connect us with recruiters, in order to get PMI good publicity, as he’s done for 4 years as Chair of Community Relations and Sponsorship. He networks, takes event pictures, and uses them to promote PMI into the business community. He also strives to increase collaboration between PMI’s operations team and its executive board.
Tough choices, right? Each of these individuals possesses high quality. They are highly motivated professionals, who are impact-players-difference-makers. You really can’t go wrong. Be sure to participate—make your voice heard and cast your VOTE for our promising PMI future!