Lisa-Ann Barnes, PMP, Project+ is the president and founder of BluePontoon (formerly IreeTec), a company specializing in project management. Lisa-Ann is an active project manager and teacher with over 30 years’ experience managing projects, implementing project management offices, and facilitating strategic plans. Lisa-Ann has developed an adaptable methodology for project management and has implemented it successfully in a variety of industries including financial services, information technology, life sciences, manufacturing, and non-profit. She is the author of two digital books on project management, Project Management from Start to Finish and Project Management for Team Members, in addition to coauthoring a book on information technology project management.
Lisa-Ann holds the PMP certification from the Project Management Institute, holds the Project+ certification from CompTIA, and recently completed an EdM from the University of Illinois with an emphasis on adult learning and e-learning ecologies.
Daniel Baumgartner is an independent management consultant with more than 30 years of business process management and information technology experience. Formerly a partner in several large management consulting firms, he has held leadership roles in management and information technology consulting services, managed client business analysts and functional managers, and demonstrated expertise in improving business processes, developing IT strategies and plans, leading the implementation of IT solutions to address business issues, and selecting and implementing enterprise-wide software applications. Baumgartner holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Perla Castro is the owner of Alpha PM Consulting. A dedicated entrepreneur and a highly adaptable program manager, she has over 20 years of experience driving sizable global program success for Fortune 500 leaders and nonprofit organizations. Often leading multiple projects concurrently, Castro is an expert in building team consensus and cultivating exceptional relationships across cultures, industries, and organizations. Fluent in both Spanish and English, Castro donates her time and experience as a project manager to various community organizations in Chicago and Guatemala. She is also a passionate early-onset Alzheimer’s caregiver, an avid advocate, and an education and awareness activist. Castro holds a master’s degree in management information systems from DePaul University and a certificate in leadership from the Metropolitan Leadership Institute.
Bliss is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach and a Workshop Facilitator for the Career Transitions Center (CTC). She facilitates career development and leadership workshops, administers assessments, and provides group and individual coaching. She coaches individuals and teams on how to develop their management skills and become stronger team members by improving their communications skills and honing their innate talents and strengths. She also helps clients navigate career transitions and determine where they want their new professional paths to go.
CliftonStrengths® Profile [Empathy - Responsibility - Individualization - Harmony - Includer]
Prior to becoming a career development and leadership coach, Bliss worked for over 15 years in the Event Marketing and Sponsorship Industry. She has held a variety of management positions at corporations, non-profits and agencies including the PGA TOUR, Dress for Success, and IEG Consulting. She also has a BSW from Providence College.
Imran Khan
Imran Khan currently serves as the Director of R&D Digital and Data Strategy for Global Medical Affairs at AbbVie Biopharmaceuticals, where he is responsible for spearheading the strategy, development, and deployment of the digital technologies and data capabilities needed to support our pipeline and stakeholders. He has a successful track record of developing innovative technology solutions to enable healthcare providers and patients manage advanced medication therapies for some of the world’s most complex diseases.
Prior to joining biopharma, Khan worked for Advocate Health Care, a large Integrated Delivery Network health system in the state of Illinois, where he led Electronic Health Records implementations, Health Information Exchanges, Patient Portals, several Interoperability projects, and clinical quality improvement initiatives for the largest community of hospital-affiliated physicians in the United States. In other roles, Khan worked for GE Healthcare and Walgreens, where he developed and supported several clinical and pharmaceutical applications.
Khan has 15 years of Strategic Management, Project Management, Change Management, and Organizational Leadership experience in delivering business technology solutions, digital transformations, IT capabilities, and products. Additionally, he has 10 years of graduate teaching experience in online and classroom settings. Khan earned his BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois, MS in Medical Informatics from Northwestern University, and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Additionally, he is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP) and Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP).
Karen Larson is a senior project manager specializing in leading projects and programs in the healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and distribution industries. Her career spans a variety of Fortune 100 companies, with leadership positions in information technology management, software development, and building project and program management offices. Larson has expertise and significant experience in improving business processes, developing corporate strategies and plans, leading the implementation of IT-oriented solutions to address business issues, and building business intelligence practices. She holds an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, a BA from Miami University, and a PMP certification from the Project Management Institute.
Alex (Alexandre) Melo (DeMelo)
Email Alex (Alexandre) Melo (DeMelo)
Currently teaching:
Power Excel Skills for Project Managers
Risk Management
Alex Melo is the CEO of SIDIA - Samsung R&D Institute in Amazon, Brazil. SIDIA works on the research and development of cutting-edge technologies covering Smartphones, Smartwatches, Virtual Reality, Games, Digital TV and others. Melo’s career has spanned several different positions in the technology industry. He has had the opportunity to apply project management concepts to such areas as product development, team building, process improvement, tools development, certifications, and training. Known for developing and using simple and practical approaches to address complex project problems, he follows the same principles in his teaching. Melo holds an MS in engineering, PMP certification from the Project Management Institute, and an executive MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Anthony Mersino
Currently teaching:
Agile for Practitioners
Agile Estimating and Planning
Anthony Mersino is an enterprise agile coach with Vitality Chicago. Passionate about helping technology teams thrive and organizations transform, he is frequently invited by organizations to help teams adopt agile thinking and the scrum framework. Mersino teaches a wide range of agile and scrum training courses as well as the cultural elements necessary for an organization to gain true business agility. As a coach he helps organizations establish co-located and cross-functional teams, identify effective product owners, and create initial product backlogs. Mersino enjoys working with an organization’s leaders to help them create an environment where people come first, productivity is high, and teamwork is effective and enjoyable. Author of numerous blog posts and articles, he has also written two books: Agile Project Management for Teams and Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers. Mersino earned an undergraduate degree at Michigan State University and an MBA at Loyola College of Maryland as well as PMP and PMI-ACP certification.
Balajirao Ryali
Currently teaching:
Applied Project Management
Managing Distributed Teams: Adaptive Project Management
Balajirao Ryali has over 20 years' experience in Engineering and Program Management. Spanning the software, telecommunications, manufacturing, medical devices, and biopharmaceutical industries, his professional career includes wide-ranging industrial experience in the new product process design, development, commercialization, design for six sigma, and continuous improvement areas. Ryali is a passionate Leader-Teacher with an active agenda in the Management Science, Operations and Supply Chain Management, Project Management, Business Analytics, and Business Statistics areas. A senior member of the IEEE and the American Society for Quality, and a member of the Project Management Institute and the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, Ryali maintains affiliation to the professional bodies. Ryali holds a PhD from Illinois Institute of Technology, an MEM from Northwestern University, an MBA from DePaul University, an MTech from the University of Mysore, and a BE from Osmania University. He is certified by Stanford as Project Manager, certified by Project Management Institute as Project Management Professional, Program Management Professional, Agile Certified Professional, and certified by American Society for Quality as Six Sigma Black Belt and Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence.