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Summer 2022 Social Good Project - Mom's Panty

Mom’s Pantry was built on the bedrock of a single goal; that no man, woman, or child go hungry.

Mom’s Pantry was created because a significant community needs to help families with their struggle against hunger. In Arizona, one in five families cannot provide enough food to feed the entire household.

Our founders and donors have been blessed with food on their table and believe that no individual should ever have to go hungry. Through the collaboration and generosity of a local family and interested parties, the vision and mission to combat hunger brought Mom’s Pantry to life. Mom’s Pantry is always stocked and ready for the next visitor.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Mom’s Pantry aims to serve the community and distribute resources that will provide essential nutrition to adults and children. They certainly lived up to our chapter partner's expectations.

Volunteer Spotlight - Frank Balogh

Many of you may already know Frank Balogh, PMP since he has served PMI since the early 2000s. For those who do not, let me introduce you to our Mentoring Program Director, the June Volunteer of the Month.

Frank’s journey started when the chapter developed and facilitated our PMP boot camp, and these materials were part of the foundation of what we know of as the Study Group today. From the beginning, he was a volunteer PMP test prep instructor, academic outreach resource, and presenter on project management trends and professional development. His passion was mentoring and sharing his knowledge.

His volunteer journey initially began by accident – “I was at a company where no manager was a PMP, and a new CTO came in and asked, “why do we have all these IT PMs who are not certified?”. Suddenly, I was quite popular. My manager at the time told me that I had a knack for presentations and mentoring and the PMI chapter had opportunities to grow this skill.”
Over the years, he has been a presenter on PM topics, especially migrating one’s skills to non-traditional roles and adopting Agile and Agile at Scale practices and thinking. Frank Balogh has also worked with universities whose engineering students had capstone PM projects that needed advice from a practitioner. And he was one of the initial mentors in the San Francisco PMI chapter.When asked what has been rewarding about your volunteer service, he responded, “it’s been mostly to see people who could not initially see a path forward to their goals light up when they use something I’ve suggested, and then they can sort out a solution themselves.”
Frank Balogh’s word of advice for new volunteers. “Don’t be concerned about being perfect or an expert. Use the volunteer experience to learn and expand your knowledge.”On a personal level, he likes cruises where he can have a chance to dress up and tie a bowtie. There is no driving or flying involved—his proudest moment “was when he finished his first sprint triathlon. For years I had seen people do this and thought it was something I could never do myself, and I broke down and cried in joy and wonderment after it was over.”
An interesting bit is that he took ballet lessons. I had a traditional fencing coach in college who determined that we were not supple enough, so they sent us to classes. Years later, I joined her when my 5-year-old daughter came home from school and demonstrated a few ballet steps. Her immediate reaction was, “Daddies aren’t supposed to know these things!”

Letter from the Board Chair, July 2022

I recently reviewed my LinkedIn Profile and noticed that my PMP credential there was expired. This issue was concerning because I didn’t want anyone to think I had let it lapse. I work hard to ensure that I have enough PDUs to renew each year, as all of us do, and I want it to show on my LinkedIn Profile. I soon realized that I hadn’t updated that entry since Credly acquired Acclaim. If you are unaware of PMI’s digital badge program, you can click on the link and read about it. A quick summary is that Credly, a digital credential network, manages the program. They allow you to share your digital certificate on social media, email, and websites. Embedding the credential this way into your LinkedIn profile will enable it to be automatically updated by PMI and Credly when renewed. The issue I had is my entry was from Acclaim and didn’t update. When I checked Credly, it was showing expired as well. They had not received my renewal info from PMI. I was able to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. support, and they fixed it the next day. I updated my profile with the link to Credly, and everything is now up to date. If you’re not using the digital badge program, you should. It’s free as part of your membership and lets others know about the certification you worked so hard to obtain.

The chapter is still accepting nominations for the upcoming board election this year. If you or someone you know is interested, please fill out a nomination form here, and the election committee will reach out to you.

We have a lot of events on the calendar and some great collaborations that will be announced soon for the fall.

If you haven’t attended a PMI Chapter Xchange event, you should sign up for the one next Friday. The topic is Project Management for Supply Chain Management, and one of our members will be a panelist this month. It’s a timely topic and something that is affecting all projects.

If you have any questions or suggestions for the board, you can contact us via the Contact Us Form on the website or email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Volunteer Spotlight - Heather Cardosi

Heather Cardosi shared that "responsibility and acceptance should be considered by everyone and we should embrace our differences. It doesn't matter what race, creed, or ethic background you are, what matters is that you are not hurting others. The story of your world is what you make it, dont be a douche. We make our story, we decide, we put forth that perception out to the universe. The world is the way it is because we put it there, people always complain that this is not the way the world works but we make the world. We need to put out the effort to make if better or the way we want the world to work."

Heather's project management work supports a satelite heathcare for kidney diallis to provide better health and education so they do not get to to the medical state of needing diallis. She is an infrastructure group manager who supports the programs using a hybrid waterfall approach to shift the mindset to new ways and doing things.

Her passion is to work on envionomental issues, perhaps with a non-profit to repair the damage caused by not using sustainable practices. She has a GPM-b (Certified Green Project Manager – Level B) whidh is the foundational, knowledge-based sustainability certification that supports the commitment of those in project management to maximize sustainability within the project lifecycle, to improve the construct and delivery of goods and services produced as project deliverables, and to use measurable standards to consider and account for social, environmental, and economic impacts in projects.

Learning green project management basics and how you can apply it to any projects by not using the key points like impact should be the measure, money should not be the key metric. Profit might be less but the impacts would be thinking longterm for a better way of life like not letting our cell phones ending up in a landfill. This mindset can be applied to any project.

Heather shared that "even when you fail, you are not a failure until you stop tring." As a kids hockey coach she teaches that we are here to have fun not to win we are here to have fun and if you fall down, get back up. You are not trying hard enough." This is a good lesson for all of us.

Q3 Social Good In Person Project - Mom's Pantry

The chapter is holding two in-person events this summer in Phoenix, so beat the heat and join us. Spots are limited for July 9th and August 13th for working volunteers at the facility, so register now. If you cannot help in person, you can still support us by participating in the food drive. Keep reading for how to get involved.

Mom's Pantry accepts donations for both food and money to help us meet our goals. Unless otherwise designated, 100% of donated funds are used towards the supply of food and hygiene items for distribution to our guests. No one in need is turned away. Facility and administrative costs are separately funded.

Thank you for your interest in volunteering! We appreciate you taking the time to serve with us. Volunteers have the opportunity of packing bags, stock shelves or check in guests, and more.

Volunteer hours are Saturdays 9:00 am – 2:30 pm. It is important to arrive promptly at 9:00 am as we have a meeting and discuss work assignments for the day. Mom’s Pantry is open to guests from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm on Saturday and 10:00 am – 1:00 pm on Sunday. We ask that volunteers stay until the end-of-day tasks are completed and until the last guest has been served and left the Pantry.

Mom’s Pantry allows children 9 through 15 years old to volunteer with their parents or guardian. Ages 16 and 17 may volunteer on their own. All prospective volunteers must complete a volunteer application and consent form for their age or the age of their children. These forms can be found online.

  1. Application
  2. Release Form

After you complete the first link above, anyone 18+ will receive an additional email to complete a background check if we do not already have a current one on file. Once the application and background check is approved, you will be contacted by Mom's Pantry, through Christian Life Outreach, which is a Qualifying Charitable Organization in the state of Arizona. That means you can receive a tax credit of up to $800 for contributions made to Mom’s Pantry using the QCO code 21059. Mom’s Pantry is a community food bank located at 13440 N Cave Creek Road in Phoenix, Arizona 85022. In addition to the 200 plus families we serve locally each weekend, we are also helping to supply food and assistance to The Phoenix Dream Center, Short Creek Dream Center, and Thrive, an organization dedicated to foster care prevention, reunification, and age-out housing programs, other food banks in the Phoenix area, and homeless events throughout the valley. Mom’s Pantry is a hub for food distribution throughout the valley. This September, we need your help to Feed Arizona through our 50/50 program. Our goal is to raise 50,000 pounds of food and $50,000 to feed those in need in the state of Arizona.

Mom’s Pantry, through Christian Life Outreach, is a Qualifying Charitable Organization in the state of Arizona. That means that you can receive a tax credit of up to $800 for contributions made to Mom’s Pantry using the QCO code 21059.

Food Donation List

The following items are necessities and are handed out on a regular basis.
These can be dropped off at the location on our event days to join us or you can make an arrangement with them directly at Give Help | Mom's Pantry Phoenix, AZ (momspantryphoenix.org).

  • Canned vegetables
  • Canned tuna or chicken
  • Bar soap
  • Canned fruit
  • Canned soup
  • Peanut butter
  • Mac and cheese
  • Toothbrush/toothpaste
  • Rice
  • Canned pasta sauce
  • Toilet paper
  • Shampoo/conditioner
  • Bag/boxed pasta

June Letter from the Board Chair

June 2022

Letter from the Board Chair

We need you to run for a board member position!

The chapter has opened the nominations for Board.  We currently have 5 Board positions up for nomination in this election cycle.  Those positions are posted on the chapter website on our Elections page.  The Chapter Board is an excellent place for project managers to gain experience in leading and managing an organization.  Many of our members would be excellent board members but have never thought they were qualified to do so.  So, what qualifications do you need to have to run for the board?

To run in the election, a nominee must:

  • Be a Chapter member in good standing at the time of the election
  • Receive at least three nominations
  • Agree to serve in the position for which he or she is nominated
  • Any Chapter member in good standing may nominate another member
  • A Chapter member may nominate him or herself as one of the three nominations

If you’re interested in running reach out to our elections team.  If you think you may have an issue getting the three nominations required, then please reach out to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Let me answer some common questions about the board.

What kind of commitment will this involve?

Board members are expected to be actively involved and visibly present at a variety of chapter events as they relate to their duties. An elected board member can expect to spend up to 10 - 30 hours a month on their duties. It varies with the role. As a board member, you will have one or more teams that report to you and there will be additional meetings to manage teams and projects. In addition, elected board members must attend monthly Board meetings (approximately 2.5 hours), the annual strategic planning events (1 or 2 days), an annual Director meeting (half day), and monthly Chapter meetings.

What are the benefits of serving as a board member?

As a board member, you will have an opportunity to develop your own management, leadership, and project management skills. The Chapter will provide leadership development opportunities for its board members, which may include attending PMI Regional Meetings and PMI Global Leadership Institute Meetings (LIM). Being a board member provides you with great networking opportunities and of course up to 25 PDUs per certification cycle.

I'm interested in being considered for an elected board member role, what's the next step?

If you are ready to take the next step, please contact the Elections Committee at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..