For the second year in a row, the project was virtual which enables the judges to focus on the detailed materials while still being interactive and engaging. The Chapter Future Cities program offers a service that other chapters do not, feedback to the participants so they can develop their project management skills. The observations provided assist in better project outcomes.

Riley Sedam has worked for the government and spent ten years in the Navy. His mentors provided the insight to take a risk and that you have more to lose by not going for it. Riley currently works for Valley Wise Healthcare and his many projects have helped him identify that he could make a positive impact on the less fortunate, his community and to the patients.  Riley’s peers would describe me as “fun to work with, always willing to jump in and help since there is no I in team, organized and willing to mentor and share knowledge.”

 I spoke with Riley and asked him what inspired him he gives credit to his ten years in the Navy. “I was able to see the direct impact I could make for others. “He thrives on providing service to others, mentoring whenever he can. “Life keeps going on and when I think about my purpose, it motivates me. “Riley’s hobby is to continually foster the mindset of becoming a better person by reading self help books to improve mental resilience and self-confidence. “He wants to become his best self and a strong attitude enables you to weather any storm.”

Riley loves to travel and see new places. His time in Japan, Bali Indonesia and Hawaii fed this passion. Riley Sedam now wants to explore Europe. His spare time is spent outdoors, and he loves spending time at the lake with his family.

His word of wisdom is to share your knowledge with others. Use the resources PMI offers and volunteer. “We are all here to help each other and utilize our community. So be ready and willing to help each other. Take the time to volunteer, it enriches your life and those you help.” Riley shared that he has learned a lot from the community, and they won’t let you fail.

Why did Alex engage as a volunteer? It was twofold, to give back and get something for himself as a lifelong learner. Alex Green shared, “I enjoy learning from the diverse and extensive experience of the other volunteer facilitators, and I wanted to contribute in an impactful way to assist PMP candidates to master the material and pass the exam. Getting to meet experienced project managers and learning how they’ve utilized PMBOK methodologies into their projects throughout their careers, has been invaluable.” Alex wants to build up his base and explore other industries and how they operated projects, so he has more tools in his toolbox. Alex looks to his hero mother for inspiration, Carolyn Green who is a seasoned PMP. He chose to become a second-generation project manager. He is amazed by witnessing her energy which is produced if you love are doing what you love what you are doing. His proudest moment to date is on presenting a communications project which helped overcome his fear of speaking, his recent marriage since he had to publicly speak his memorized vows and improving his verbal communication skill in general. He clearly is working on improving his perceived weakness by volunteering as a study group facilitator.  Alex Green’s long-term goal is to “find a way to repay the universe for all of the fortunate people and things that I’ve been blessed to have in my life.” 

Which causes keep Alex passionate outside his career? Ensuring that LGBTQ and youth are empowered. “I was very fortunate to have supportive friends and family in my personal journey and feel everyone deserves to develop in a safe and compassionate space.”

Communication as a skill was the theme of our conversation. It is difficult to herd cats to communicate a problem from the bottom up. A key component is to find out how departments interact and build a bigger picture of where you or your project fit and then to guide decision making based on functional areas of knowledge.  Alex wants to encourage others in my circle to pursue something, to continually learn and grow so you don’t get left behind by being complacent. The value you bring by personal learning and growing for your own growth to see if you can improve your value is immeasurable.  Finding out why are you unhappy is more of an art than a science, there is always growth and balance. School teaches you crazy skills but lack the science of the human skills. It is a factor in the great resignation, we need more of work life balance and personal time. So many people testing the waters to find that balance. “Corporate culture needs to support that balance rather than on the bottom line. Its not about money if all your needs are met - will that bring happiness to your life. If employers don’t adapt, they could sink.” 

Alex Green’s advice to members who are on the certification journey, “The PMI Phoenix Chapter can be a great learning and networking resource for current and prospective PMPs with just a little time and commitment.”

A project is producing a lot of the information wanted by the hackers: Concepts, architecture, technologies used, processes, organization, security levels and directives are gold for those people. Some of them are very sensitive and can compromise the solution. Imagine the following scenario: the White House opening a project for an Air Force One new generation, and there’s no security in the project. This means you’ll find the plans of the plane on the Internet black market, and so, Air Force One turned to vulnerable and become and easy and favorite target.

The goal of the security is to classify and protect at the right security level on information against leaking and destruction. Information can be a document, a mail, a recording (audio or video), minutes, directory of the project, photos, etc. So as projects produce a lot of information, security start at that point.

It belongs to each company to identify the accurate number of levels of security needed, and implement the security policies in the project. Security in the Project impacts the recruitment, the organization, the processes, the communication channels, the Project Information System, the right management, i.e. the culture of the company. All of this should be described in the Project Security Management Plan (PSMP). The PSMP is not connected to a project in particular but to a class of project. It proves that the company integrate the security in its culture and so, the PSMP becomes and input during an audit.

It becomes also interesting for a provider company to add to bid answers the PSMP as an annex, to show their clients that now security is a reality in their company.

Each level of security should be defined regarding a risk. The cost of a security policy must be less than the cost of the risk if it occurs. So the level of security can go from “unclassified” to “Top Secret” 1.

Regarding the PMP, security is transversal and affect some of the knowledge area. So each level of security should be decline in the following PMP knowledge areas. Here’s some questions that should be asked when designing the project.

Project Human Resource Management

n Does the position needs a clearance? Which one?

n Is there some exclusion criteria? For example, is American citizenship needed?

Project Communication Management

n Regarding the information and who should exchange it, should it be encrypted?

n If so with which tools? Only the attachment or the whole mail?

n Which category of people can see which information? And Why? Does this category of people can change the information (access to write) or only to read it? Can they forward it? To whom?

Project Risk management

n Do I have some threats, vulnerabilities on my project? Which ones?

Project Procurement Management

n Which level of project security does it have?

n Is the level enough regarding our rules?

n How to exchange information between us in a secure way? With which Interface? Theirs, ours?

n Who is the Security Project Officer? Does he have one?

Project Stakeholder Management

n Does the identified stakeholder have the right clearance to receive communication, information about the project?

n Which information, communication about the project can receive a stakeholder?

n Is a stakeholder a security threat on the project?

Project Scope Management

Another point should be onboard on this subject: The Project Information System (PIS). The PIS centralized, concentrate almost all the information about the project. It’s a target for hackers to get information on the deliverables. Here too some question should be asked:

n Should I use the IS of the company or one specific for the project?

n Should I encrypt files, if so which ones?

n Who can access to the PIS? to a specific directory or file

n Are my backup encrypted? Where are they store?

n Do I have a right management plan? Adequate processes to manage them?

On another side, the PIS should be structured to easily apply the right management, and profiles should be defined to apply the Role based Access Control. Process should also be defined and implement to turn on or off this rights.

Backups of the PIS must be integrated in the security perimeter under the view of stealing them. They can be the weak link. Their encryption is their only protection against stealing and so this option should be decided.

All of this should be managed by a new position: the Project Security Officer (PSO). The PSO is a member of the project. It can be a role of a member regarding the size of the project, but it can not be the project manager. Security and project driving should be confronted.

The missions of the Project Security are the following :

n Check that the security policies are applied,

n Aware each member of the project team to the security policies and the cyberthreats,

n Produce the security dashboard and security indicators,

n Identify security risk and manage them,

n Identify security incident and manage them,

n Support the team about security matters,

n He reports to the CISO of the company

Security is not anymore a dream or an option in a project. It’s now a reality. It must be taken in consideration in every project to be sure to not to have bad surprise (especially on the dark web) and have our efforts ruined… in a second.

1 Security Clearances - United States Department of State

It is no secret that our chapter runs on the hard work and effort of our volunteers. Every month we highlight the impact our volunteers have on our chapter and the Project Management profession. This month's volunteer spotlight is no different. 

Alyssa Stricklan is an excellent example of how the PMI Phoenix chapter supports the success of its members and how quickly our volunteers can make a difference in our community. 

PMI Phoenix VOTM and Intel Supply Chain guru, Alyssa Stricklan

If you want something done right the first time, you better call Alyssa. The first in her family to attend college, Alyssa continued the streak, accepting a job offer as a supply chain analyst with Intel immediately after graduating from ASU. Not one to stop learning, Alyssa then moved on to her next challenge – the PMP exam. "I'd be a lifelong student if I could.", Alyssa says as she starts to describe her experience studying for the PMP. It seems she has an order, "I enjoy the process and the focus on documentation and orientation towards detail."  

She took her PMP training to heart. "Even while I was still studying for my PMP, I knew I was going to volunteer in some facet. I love giving back to the organizations and groups that help me." Then, in August, everything fell into place. "I kept an eye out for opportunities, and once I read about the academic content manager position, I know that's what I wanted to do!"  

Alyssa joined the Academic Outreach team, where she was tasked with developing content for the Future Cities competition. As it turns out, Alyssa enjoys teaching as much as she does learning. The sole content creator for @Alyssa_SCM, a TikTok channel that teaches Supply Chain tips to other professionals, Alyssa used her skills to develop a simple presentation to teach 8th graders basic Project Management skills.  

"I am so happy to have already been able to make tangible material that is being put to use and know that more is needed and will make an impact in the community. I am also overjoyed to be a part of helping teachers and universities learn and teach about project management to the next generations." 

So what's next for the laser-focused chapter volunteer? She's currently transitioning to her new role as Supply Chain Solutions Engineer at Intel, something that seems perfect for a person with a passion for learning and acute attention to detail. She also likes to travel and find good reads to her home library of over 200 books. "I read a couple of hours each day." “I am constantly reading multiple books and buying more books. If there’s a bookstore, I’ll find it and come out with my arms full.” Her latest favorite? Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes.  Favorite travel destination? Italy.  “It’s the first place I went overseas, and I haven’t stopped thinking about every moment of being there nearly 10 years later. My love for travel and experiencing the world started there. Plus, the food!”

Alyssa on the hunt for books while on vacation in Italy!

Speaking of Year of Yes, Alyssa believes that everyone could find their volunteer opportunity with PMI Phoenix. "Absolutely do it! There are so many types of help needed and each person really can make a difference not just for the Phoenix chapter, but for PMI as a whole. The future of PMI is so exciting, and you could be a part of building and expanding that future."

Here is to the bright future of one outstanding PMI Chapter member and volunteer! Thank you, Alyssa!