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Volunteer Spotlight - Funke Ogundare

When asked Funke what prompted her to volunteer, she responded quickly with “while studying for the PMP, I realized such opportunities existed, I’ve always loved and believed in giving back. I get to do what I love doing and earn PDUs. I also saw this as an opportunity to network and meet people I will have otherwise not met, so I saw this as a win-win.” PMI Global awards 25 giving back PDUs in every 3-year PMP renewal cycle. What Funke has found to be rewarding about her volunteer service? “The joy of serving my community. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a smile on persons face and know you had a part in putting it there.” Her message to other members considering chapter volunteer work, “Please find your passion and get involved, there is a great need.”

I don’t like talking about myself or selling myself, it misleads people about my capabilities when I demonstrate my skill. They are quite surprised by the number of skills I have in my toolbox. Funke has been mentoring when asked for help and recently produced a 1-hour video for the ladies in Nigeria interested in the information technology field.

What you might not know about Funke Ogundare is her love of family and that she owns and manages a gym in Nigeria. “My parents retired in 2015 so I found something for my dad to do and she later took it over since there is so much need in Nigeria. It’s another way to give back to the families. We use proceeds from the gym for the school’s sports programs and to help the community.”

Funke Ogundare’s words of wisdom, “you have more time than you think you have, but it is important to not say yes to everything because then you would get burnt out. People need to jump in and make time for those things that are important to them. You have time for what you choose.”

Fall 2022 Event, One Warm Coat

What is our goal?

To raise $1,000 in funds in our virtual coat drive which will warm 1000 people, and to collect 100 coats in our physical coat drive  this fall to warm 100 more for a total of 1100 coats.

How will this work?

For the virtual coat drive, we would send out a web link to One Warm Coat to donate funds for this cause. For the physical coat drive, we are collecting outer coats, sweaters, sweatshirts, caps and scarfs for men, women, and children with drop off locations around the valley. zone map

When will this take place?

The coat drive will run from October 2-23, 2022.

Help PMI - Phoenix Social Good Coat Drive  reach their goals!
Every $1 donated warms 1 person! 

How can you help?

Consider helping us in one or more of the following ways:

  • Donate your new or gently used coats, drop them off at the zone closest to you, or arrange for a pickup
  • Donate funds to this cause, $1,000 will keep 1,000 people warm.
  • Tell your friends and family to join us on this quest to warm the homeless this fall. Please share this information on your social networks and/or forward it to their email addresses.

We appreciate your support! 

Future City 2022-23 Launch Event

The Future City Competition “is a project-based learning program where students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades imagine, research, design, and build cities of the future.” This incredible opportunity gives middle school students exposure to the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) community and techniques used in the project management knowledge base. Teams of students compete regionally by submitting various deliverables, models, and presentations to STEM-based society judges. One team is selected to represent the state at the national competition in Washington, D.C.


PMI Phoenix Chapter is proud to provide volunteers to support, judge, and mentor teams in the Arizona state regionals. The Future City regional coordination team and our volunteers kicked off this year’s 2022-23 competition with an in-person launch event. This is the first in-person event since the 2019-20 competition finals due to the restrictions caused by the pandemic. The event was hosted by regional coordinators Michael Andrews and David Ellingson at the Southwest Gas facility in Phoenix on August 27, 2022.

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The Saturday event was a great mix of about 30-40 educators and volunteers, both new and seasoned members of the regional competition. During the event's first half, the coordination team recognized the societies that supported the competition in previous years, followed by an overview of this year’s competition dates and deliverables. The second half of the event was led by PMI Phoenix Chapter volunteers. One of our newest volunteers, Christopher Downey, provided an overview on the “Importance of Project Planning,” and our Director of Academic Outreach, Steve Poessnecker, moderated a panel of experts to introduce this year’s challenge question. Each year, students must address a particular challenge question within their designed city of the future. Last year, students had to imagine a future city located on the moon. This year, students must choose “a climate change impact, design one innovative and futuristic climate change adaptation and one mitigation strategy to keep [their] residents healthy and safe.”

Feel free to follow this year’s regional competition at https://futurecity.org/arizona. If you are interested in how to get involved as a mentor or judge, contact the PMI Phoenix Future City Director at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or PMI Phoenix Future City Project Manager at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Board of Directors Election is Open!

Today we open our Chapter Board of Director’s Election. Each member will receive an email with a link to cast their vote.   The election will run all month and end on September 30th.  We will send out a reminder each week to those members that have not voted.

Every member has a right to determine who will sit on the Board of Directors.  The board determines the strategy and operation of the chapter, and through the election, you can provide your input on those topics.

If you can’t find this email and want to vote in the election, you can do so at this address https://pmiphx.electionrunner.com.  Each member can log in and cast a ballot. To log in, you must use your primary email address from your PMI profile as your voter id. I have provided a screenshot below of my profile with the location of the email address under the Personal Information tab in the PMI dashboard.

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The Voter Key will be your PMI Membership ID number.  I have provided a screenshot below of my profile showing the location of the number.

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I hope you will exercise this important membership right and participate in the chapter's governance.

Call for Mentors and Mentees!

PMI Phoenix Chapter is looking for Mentors and Mentees for the Fall 2022 Mentorship Program!!


Nothing is more important to the health and sustainability of the PMI Phoenix Chapter than getting highly qualified, engaged, skilled, passionate people to work together to further their project management professional development journey – whether serving as a knowledge transfer agent or obtaining advice and guidance from a seasoned project management professional.
Come join this fall Mentorship Program as either Mentor or a Mentee. For Mentors, this is a great way to give back to the chapter. For Mentees, this is a great way to jump start your professional development and network with other project management professionals, and (of course) earn PDUs!
The PMI Phoenix Chapter is proud to offer members the Professional Mentorship Program. This program is designed for project management professionals working in the field who need the short-term support of someone more senior. Mentees will engage with their mentor weekly for a few months, in an on-demand, unstructured setting to reach specific personal and professional goals. Mentoring may include a resume or LinkedIn profile review, a mock job interview, career advice, an individual development plan, and insights and recommendations on professional certifications to enhance your skillset.  
Mentoring Requirements

  •     Be available at least weekly to a paired Mentee to advise and counsel
  •     Help set and achieve concrete, realistic goals
  •     Create an open environment for working togethe
  •     Communicate effectively and be empathic to how others are engaging
  •     Provide encouragement
  •     Facilitate learning
  •     Give thoughtful, constructive, kind feedback and offer suggestions
  •     Recommend resources and professional development opportunities
  •     Maintain enthusiasm for the mission of the PMI Phoenix Chapter

Mentee Requirements:

  • Be available at least weekly to a paired Mentor to learn and grow in project management skills and abilities
  • Develop and achieve concrete, realistic goals
  • Create an open environment for working together
  • Listen to my mentor’s advice and guidance
  • Be open about what may be getting in the way of my goals
  • Be willing to try new things (webinars, classes, workshops, strategies)
  • Acquire the skills needed to be successful in my professional development
  • Maintain enthusiasm for the mission of the PMI Phoenix Chapter

If you have an interest, don’t wait! The Mentorship Program cycle kicks off now!  

APPLICANT DEADLINE: September 16, 2022
Mentors: Click here to apply.
Mentees: Click here to apply.

Volunteer Spotlight - Henry Jones

Our conversation was looking at our projects in general and the importance and role that people, process and tools play in successful project management. Have the vision to identify gaps where technology can improve quality, efficiency or effectiveness for our members.  Every project is dependent upon people, processes, and tools and all three should be kept in balance. Any time that a tool is adopted, it will necessitate process changes or even elimination since processes that once worked perfectly may now be inefficient at best or error prone and costly for us as a nonprofit. 

The irony is that if you do that successfully, you might practically eliminate the need for a Project Manager and put yourself out of a job, but that’s the right thing to do so you can move onto another challenging opportunity 

When Henry is not working professionally in the cloud space and volunteering for the chapter he focuses on whittling down his extensive bucket list, being positive to others and taking road trips around Arizona, Nevada and California with my wife and my German Shepherd. Henry’s hobbies are enjoying music and video editing and production.  His goal is to get better on Guitar and Piano by taking online lessons. He also loves “tinkering with Web Development technologies such as Asp.NET, REACT, PHP and some low code - no code platforms such as Power Apps and Bubble IO.” 

I discovered that he is a creative, innovative person who looks at things with an agile mindset. 

Henry Jones shared his volunteer words of wisdom, “The chapter has a variety of departments and activities where you can get involved.  So, pick out something where you can lend a hand.  If it isn’t what you like find another department.”