On Saturday, November 22, 2025, three members of the PMI Atlanta Social Impact Committee, Minasu Kugblenu, Camolyn Weeks, and Board Director Bennie Leonard, volunteered at the Thanksgiving Food Drive hosted by Reflections of Trinity in partnership with Linked UP Church. The annual event provides food and fresh produce for families across Cobb County, helping ensure that households have what they need for the holiday season.

This opportunity was brought to the committee by Bennie Leonard, and we extend our appreciation for identifying and sharing this meaningful way for our volunteers to serve.

Volunteer Reflections

Minasu Kugblenu (pictured right) joined the morning packing line, describing the experience as “fulfilling and impressive” given the scale and organization of the operation.

“It was inspiring to see so many people coming together with a shared purpose,” Minasu shared. “I was grateful to contribute to an effort that will support families during the holiday season.”

Camolyn Weeks served during the afternoon shift, assisting with breakdown and end-of-day logistics as volunteers wrapped up distribution activities.

Bennie Leonard, who has supported Reflections of Trinity for several years, highlighted the long-running community partnership between the organization and Linked UP Church, which has helped feed thousands of families since the pantry’s founding in 2012.

How This Event Fits into Our Day of Service Strategy

Day of Service is one of SIC’s three strategic pillars, alongside Youth Outreach and Nonprofit Support. It offers chapter members opportunities for hands-on community service that strengthen civic connection and support local organizations. These events allow us to contribute directly to community needs even when the committee is not project managing an engagement.

This Thanksgiving effort is a clear example of how PMI Atlanta members can make an immediate, meaningful impact through short-duration service.

“Together We Can” and SDG 2: Zero Hunger

This event strongly reflects PMI’s Culture Value Together We Can, which emphasizes trusted partnerships, collective action, and working side by side in service of a shared mission. Serving alongside Reflections of Trinity volunteers, church partners, and community members embodies exactly what this value represents.

It also supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal SDG 2: Zero Hunger, which focuses on reducing food insecurity and expanding reliable access to nutritious meals.

Why SIC uses the UN SDGs:
The SDGs provide a globally recognized framework that helps ensure our local volunteer efforts contribute to long-term, sustainable community outcomes.

Gratitude and Looking Forward

We are grateful to Minasu, Camolyn, and Bennie for representing PMI Atlanta at this Day of Service event and to Bennie for bringing the opportunity to the committee. Their service shows how PMI professionals can make a difference, even in small windows of time, when we serve together.

If you are interested in future volunteer opportunities, keep an eye on the PMI Volunteer Portal and upcoming chapter communications.

by Mike Ososki, PMP

Joe Noonan goes by “Coach Joe.” As Head Coach at Inside EDGE Consulting, Joe leads initiatives aligned with personal and professional growth, consulting to CEOs, sales leadership and entrepreneurs. He recently spoke to us about how Project Managers can start smart when launching a successful independent consulting practice.

Joe offered plenty of sage advice, peppering his talk to highlight specific takeaways and often asked, “Deal?” to help achieve audience buy-in.

Do you want to be an entrepreneur? Owning your own business is not for sissies, and one must constantly be asking, “What are my skills?” Wearing all the hats to start, it’s a far cry from being a specialized cog in a big corporate machine. So before you take this kind of bold career jump, prepare well to reduce risk with a plentiful array of resources ...

SBDC, the Small Business Development Center, with zero cost consulting and an office in every state.

SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives, with free mentoring, business planning workshops, and much more.

SBA, the Small Business Association, for bankers and loans, with government backing for 75% of your loan.

To begin, you’ll want to be thinking about foundational elements like business structure, personal brand building and professional image, and how best to define your Unique Value Proposition. As a start point, you can schedule a free 60-minute consult at Inside EDGE, too.

It’s important to be a good storyteller and get uncomfortable in a positive growth-inducing way. Certifications like those offered by PMI and pro coaching can help a lot. Navigating into uncharted territory can be a scary solo venture, so seek continuous feedback from trusted sources.

Google “how to start a business in Georgia,” choose your business name and get the state and local licenses. Your good CPA can help choose the best business types, eg: LLC, S-Corp, Inc., etc.

Joe states that 83% of people start Monday morning without a plan and recommends that for less stress, do a plan. Compose 5-second and 30-second pitches. Focus on your non-beer IPA: Income-Producing Activities. Do you want make $400/hr or $30/hr or zero dollars per hour? Toward optimizing your odds toward success, spend some time to work up your Ideal Client Profiles.

Be proactive vs. reactive. Design and implement good time management—kind of like they did for you in your high school schedule! But for better breathing and balance, plan on 30-60 minutes down time in the morning and afternoon, with nothing scheduled.

You’ve heard it before, and it bears repeating. People don’t forget how you make them feel, so feel good about yourself and share that spirit in all your interactions. Learn more at https://www.inside-edge-inc.com/

by Mike Ososki, PMP 

Master the unpredictable! Moderator Tana Glassford-Samuel commented, “it sounds like a regular day for project managers,” and many of you likely agree, especially in these increasingly volatile times. 

Nine professionals on the GSU stage joined us for a panel discussion of relevant topics. Present and contributing were ...

AI Experts :  Oliver Yarbrough, PMP, author, speaker, trainer and PM expert 
                     Doug Ware, CEO with Elumenotion

Recruiters :  Dana Neiger, Director of Talent Acquisition with Barge Design Solutions 
                     Brett Horsley, Business Solutions Manager with Ledgent Finance and Accounting    

SMEs :  Dr. Anjanette Elligan, Sr. Manager, Site Partnership Lead with BeOne Medicines  
              Nelson Ingle, Founder of Simply Agile  
              Cheryl Leaphart, Leader in Education and EdTech  
              Gray Terry, Retired Business Continuity Officer with Philips Healthcare  
              Jim Presmanes, VP Risk Management and Insurance with Havertys Furniture  

Unsurprisingly, nearly all questions and discussion involved AI—likely the biggest disruptor to our increasingly less business-as-usual times. Did you know that Atlanta is one of the top 5 US cities now prioritizing to build data centers?

Many organizations have massive amounts of raw data gathered over many years that just sits unused because no one wants to climb that mountain. One particularly wonderful aspect of AI is its (naturally) superhuman ability to consolidate, analyze, and summarize this data. Ascending the otherwise overwhelming information heights with ease, AI can connect dots, spot if/then patterns, predict trends, and provide useful reports for the informed actionability of human decision-making.

Be sure to give AI only high quality info, and use guard rails, eg: tell it to use only data that you provide. It was asserted that “you can’t trust AI,” and you must “stay in the driver’s seat.” 

Some good suggestions that were shared are that we use AI to ... 

• Characterize risk.
• Predict problems based on prior patterns.
• Automate meeting notes and status updates.
• Help with critical thinking and problem-solving.
• Build better bridges between projects and operations.
• Organize and unify big organizations with many teams.
• Design custom and specialized curriculum for educational use. 
• Ideate and help with IP, eg: write articles and books, and create videos.
• Create a virtual “mini-me” digital twin version of yourself, (but don’t let it represent you).

Remember that you know the truth and you drive the process. Do your best to embrace risk and change, as it is unavoidable. Though AI offers so much and is quickly changing all human endeavor, it will never replace you in the live dynamics of human relationships. Maintain and continue growing your excellent skills to feel, lead and communicate.  

by Mike Ososki, PMP

If you answer yes, Al Smith can help you do it—especially on LinkedIn. He is the expert to optimize your information so that when recruiters search there, you show up in the early pages. Mr. Smith says, “Help you get to page 1—that’s what I want for you.”

Al’s prior work was in sales management, and he authored the job search manual called HIRED! Every Employment Method, and thus became known as The HIRED! Guy. Visit his website and check out his bestselling book HIRED! Every Employment Method on Amazon. 

Recruiters constantly use LinkedIn to search for candidates. Ideally, you show up on page 1 of their search results. But even if not, always the earlier the better. This is because just like a Google search, we typically stop looking after ~1-5 pages, which can include dozens of potentially good candidates, and that’s where you want to be.

How do you show up early? First, your job title and keywords are the bait to catch the recruiter fish. If they find you and you mostly line up with the job requisition/s they’re working on, their job is to get your information in front of company hiring managers and talent acquisition professionals.

LinkedIn uses “sequential weighting” to select search results. These include headline, title, keywords and their placement in your profile, recommendations, skills, groups, and more. To rank high, add keywords and acronyms in your headline—up to 220 characters. Make your headline be your desired job title. Your “About” section can be up to 2,600 characters, and descriptions for each position up to 2,000 characters. Use all 100 available skills. Just like your resume, choose your words wisely to achieve maximum early impact that is as relevant as you can make it to job description language that appeals to you.

Use a “word cloud generator” to come up with 10-25 keywords, then load your profile and resume with them. Use words and phrases that recruiters may likely use to search and find people like you. Don’t try to game the system with techniques like excessive word repetition. Spell out poorly searchable acronyms like Project Manager vs. PM, Information Technology vs. IT, and Human Resources vs. HR. To be found, your job is to out-SEO your competition. To test your searchability, search for yourself using Boolean, eg: OR, AND, and quotes.

On the cautious side, Mr. Smith recommends that females especially sign up for a Google phone #, to keep your cell phone number private.

Resume-wise, show as much work history as you’re comfortable with, so that the algorithm has more content to place you higher. Maybe go back at least ~15 years. Don’t drastically change your resume for each job, but be sure to list “core competencies” vertically in your LinkedIn profile. Also create a one-page cover letter that reflects the job description keywords. The computers read everything all the time.

When job-searching, go as narrow focused as possible, then create a “value proposition deck” to tell your story partially in images. Use Pixabay to find free images for your profile cover photo. You can use both paragraphs and bullet points to appeal to both preferences.

Al declares, “I want all of you to have a brand,” and to “stand out from the crowd.”

Tuesday night, PMI Atlanta and Georgia Tech's College of Lifetime Learning teamed up to provide a Professional Development Session reviewing tips and tricks for passing the PMP exam the first time, fundamentals of risk management, and how to manage conflict. Special thanks to our instructors Joe Sisto, Sarv Kohli, and Kizmet Charles for facilitating our dynamic breakout sessions.

The evening began with dinner and networking with a special guest joining us - BUZZ! Attendees had a variety of boxed meals and desserts to choose from as they mingled and exchanged their LinkedIn QR codes. View our Photo Gallery for photos from the event.

We began the program at 6pm with an overview and introductions of our speakers by Georgia Tech's Academic Program Director Chris Carter. Then we formed our groups and moved to our breakout sessions. Each group brought insightful questions and observations from their PM experience which now has Mr. Carter's wheels turning to incorporate more into the course content for Georgia Tech.

Whether the attendee was an aspiring or seasoned PM, everyone came away from the sessions with new takeaways and fresh ideas to implement in their projects.

PMI Atlanta members are able to enjoy a 10% discount in select courses from Georgia Tech. Read more to learn about their programs.