Director of Program Management

VSCO

July 2022 – Present

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I take an unconventional yet effective approach to leadership, combining playful agility with collaboration to create a robust delivery system that achieves our organization's strategic goals. Through organizational design, coaching, mentoring, and change management, I foster a fun and engaging work environment.

 

Embracing a spirited agile mindset, I analyze and streamline current processes, infusing lean principles with a touch of playfulness. My ability to facilitate collaboration between teams and departments fosters a lively and dynamic atmosphere, driving the evolution of our systems and processes to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

 

Supporting daily operations with a light-hearted approach, I empower teams to perform their best by coaching and mentoring them in agile practices, while constantly refining our practices to align with strategic objectives. I create effective and accurate information radiators and visualizations ensuring that senior leadership and the broader organization stay informed and connected.

 

In tandem with the VP of People, I have successfully aligned our work practices with our values and principles, adding a dash of fun to our company culture. My commitment to promoting a culture of continuous improvement and learning, infused with an element of playfulness, has been essential in building resilient joyful learning teams.

 

My focus on fostering a culture of experimentation, continuous learning, growth, and fun has empowered our teams to overcome obstacles, innovate, and achieve breakthrough results. I have led systemic improvements that have increased efficiency, collaboration, and quality, all while delivering value to our customers.

 

As a playful agile coach and trusted advisor, I am dedicated to guiding organizations in building resilient learning teams, promoting experimentation, and driving systemic improvements with a touch of whimsy, to achieve outstanding results and deliver exceptional value.​

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Executive Director (Agile, Product, and Innovation Coaching)

JP Morgan Chase & Co.

Sept 2020 – June 2022

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My mission is to guide the Global Technology organization to reach its full potential. By unlocking the agile potential of our team of innovators, product owners, product managers, scrum masters, and technologists, I help deliver next-level solutions that enhance how our business operates while maintaining a touch of whimsy.

 

I masterfully utilize a range of skills, including lean, culture, collaboration, facilitation, professional coaching, process improvement, and a focus on delivering value, to set direction and solve complex, mission-critical problems. By bringing an innovative and playful approach to every challenge, I assist teams in performing at their best, internally and externally.

 

My quest to embrace cutting-edge tools such as Jira Align and evidence-based agile assessments ensures we stay at the forefront of industry trends and good practices. As the Product Owner of The Agile Lab, a comprehensive agile knowledge and education program, I have developed an agile site, knowledge base, and set of educational coaching-based cohorts that cater to everyone from new Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Agile Team Members to deeply experienced coaches and other agilists.

 

As a mentor to a team of agile coaches, I cultivate a nurturing environment where we can learn from each other, hone our skills, and contribute to the organization's success. Together, we strive to create an agile powerhouse that drives results and fosters a culture of continuous improvement.

 

With my guidance, expertise, and a sprinkle of fun, our teams are empowered to achieve new levels of success, creating real business impact and driving tangible results. Whether through comprehensive coaching programs, process improvement initiatives, or innovative approaches to problem-solving, I am dedicated to delivering measurable value that propels our organization forward, while maintaining a touch of playfulness that keeps the work environment engaging and enjoyable.

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Sr. Agile Coach, Trainer, and Community Development Lead

Accenture | SolutionsIQ

Mar 2017 – Present

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As the Community Development Lead at Accenture | SolutionsIQ, I focus on building and nurturing cohesive, lasting relationships that empower our teams to achieve greatness. By dedicating time to advocate for and foster our culture and community, I create enchanting experiences and opportunities that unite teams of distributed people, unlocking the magic of our community.

 

As a spirited coach and trainer, I partner with our clients to craft a strategy for achieving business agility across multiple sites in the US and internationally. By developing and delivering team, product, and leadership training and workshops, I conjure the knowledge and skills required for successful organizational transformations.

 

To support the execution of transformations, I coach teams, Scrum Masters, Product Owners, team leaders, and executives on Agile values and principles, fostering continuous improvement at every level with a playful approach. By coaching and mentoring teams, I help them become more self-organized, transparent, and build strong ownership, decision-making, and conflict resolution skills.

 

I understand that the key to executing any successful transformation is fostering an agile culture infused with a hint of playfulness. That's why I champion cultural change and collaborate with other coaches to develop plans and techniques that advance an organization's transformation. By leveraging my expertise and experience with a dash of fun, I enable our teams to drive measurable results and achieve success, both internally and externally.

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IT PMO Manager

American Academy of Ophthalmology

Aug 2010 – Oct 2016

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As the Agile Project Management Office (PMO) leader reporting to the Vice President of IT, I was entrusted with the full responsibility of building and evolving PMO processes and policies while expanding agile capabilities across the organization. My mission was to transform how projects are executed, by coaching and mentoring project managers and cross-functional teams, including internal staff, third-party contractors, and vendors.

 

Under my leadership, I established the Agile PMO as a strategic partner to the association, enabling them to deliver successful projects that have a strong impact on members. I trained, coached, mentored, and developed 40 product owners, building their skills and helping them to achieve their full potential.

 

I also led the deployment and adoption of Scrum, Kanban, Extreme Programming (XP) methods, and Jira software, providing more flexible planning options, optimizing teams' output and focus, increasing transparency throughout the development life cycle, and improving software value.

 

To further enable the teams' success, I built and coached a team of Scrum masters who facilitated the successful delivery of a portfolio of 50 high-profile enterprise projects yearly using scaled agile practices such as Scrum of Scrums and coordinated releases. Through my efforts, the teams delivered impactful projects with the highest quality, on time, and budget, while exceeding the association's expectations.​

 

IT Project Manager & Scrum Master

American Academy of Ophthalmology

Nov 2006 – Aug 2010

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As a seasoned Project Manager, I oversaw the full lifecycle delivery of projects across a portfolio of new and existing applications. My leadership skills enabled me to manage the efforts of internal and contract staff, as well as four vendors to successfully deliver over 50 projects annually with a 100% success rate and a 95% on-time delivery rate.

 

My dedication to innovation led to the introduction and adoption of agile practices across development and project management organizations, including implementing Scrum, which drastically reduced time-to-market and costs. As a Scrum Expert, I facilitated the successful delivery of the first agile project for the association, followed by a year-long, multimillion-dollar project.

 

One of my notable accomplishments was replacing a third-party application with a state-of-the-art Meeting Registration System that reduced customer call time by 30%, slashed the number of calls per hour by 13%, and increased the velocity of online registrations by 40%. Additionally, I played a critical role in piloting agile best practices for developing a web-based system for the International Global Alliance Group, which reduced delivery time by 50%.

 

My expertise also enabled the IT team to leverage Scrum for the largest program in the history of the association, replacing the main enterprise TIMMS association management software with Personify. My results-driven approach and proficiency in Agile methodologies have allowed me to deliver impactful solutions that drive success for the organization.