He is being honored for his work on his most recent project of the past two years, Future Cities. Future Cities is a reoccurring social good project that the chapter supports, year over year, supporting local high school students. They mentor project management skills, interview and judge students across Arizona.

His colleagues often tell John that he is organized, creative, and a team player. Helping him through his daily work is his sense of humor. John Chico recently went back to his career roots of accounting and applied the project management principles to his work. His attention to detail is serving him well as an SRP Auditor. John's philosophy is that in challenging times, success comes to those that demonstrate focus and flexibility.

John Chico enjoys music and travel and hopes to make it to Northern Italy. John is a centered family man whose passion revolves around his wife, children, and grandchildren. His proudest moments were their births that continued his family legacy.
From a career perspective, John Chico's proudest moment of his professional career was when he worked for an airline that had fatalities on 9/11. John was asked to be part of a project to help victims' families. "Getting those families through events that were so sudden and tragic made me feel like I had made a difference when it was most needed."

I was struck with my realization that John Chico pauses in his life journey to smell the roses. His motto is to be kind, appreciate the environment around you, and say thank you. Yes, like all project managers, he works hard, but this was also instilled by his grandfathers, who were immigrants. They taught him to work hard and to be kind to others. The message of kindness and the practice of gratitude resonated with him. For those of you who might not be familiar with the concept of the practice of gratitude, it is noticing the small things when you are fully present. If you string the small things together, it promotes well being, positivity and over time, creates a feeling of well-being, which helps alleviate our stress in our daily life of being a project manager.

Giving back to youth and others resonate with John Chico. His passion was apparent, and the chapter is proud to award him the February 2021 volunteer of the month award.

Paul Bartal, PMP started volunteering in 2007. His personal motto is most appropriate, “the point of the journey is not to arrive by Neil Peart” He has led the Northwest Breakfast meeting for 13 years. But then came COVID-19 and Paul stepped up as the AVP of the Breakfast Program. Typically, the breakfast meeting was in person, but we could not gather so Paul led the way in taking this meeting virtual. It was tough, how do you network, advertise that you are a job seeker or job supplier and engage with the speaker while not talking over everyone? The best part of leading the breakfast meeting to Paul is to form friendships with the regular attendees. His joy is to hear that an attendee found a job as a result of their networking at one of the breakfast meetings.  

Paul’s words of wisdom to a new volunteer or peer, “just go for it. Just please take it seriously. It makes things tough for the team if you do not honor your commitments. He feels the same way about his work peers, “treat your coworkers exactly how you would like them to treat you. Respect their time and deliver whatever you commit to.”

A little bit about Paul, did you know that he has played the drums for 40 years and is a member of a rock band, Radio X?  

He tries to live life to the fullest, travel and appreciate others. His guilty pleasure is to off road in his jeep of the Arizona trails. I have known him for years after meeting at the Northwest Breakfast Meeting and did not know these tidbits. I just thought of him as a nice person, always positive and that he cares about others. You might see Paul Bartal in the community, he is an avid, Toastmaster, and feels this had led to his personal leadership and public speaking growth. He also supports the American Cancer Society and the Alzheimer’s Association. He gives back and is a stellar example, of a Volunteer of the Month.

Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professional (CNAP), PMP, CSM

Mary Ryan started volunteering in 2013 as a financial liason on the finance team while studing for her PMP.  Mary then served as an Associate Vice President and was appointed and later elected to the VP of Finance Role. Her journey continued and served as a VP of Professional Development and later as the Vice President of Virtual Locations which ended at the close of 2020. Mary is currently serving this year as an episodic volunteer. The director at large role is a non voting board position that can act as a mentor, guide and leader of special projects. This role is often used by past board leaders who want to continue giving back but allows the flexibility of scaling back volunteer hours or increasing hours to complete a project.

When I asked her what made her a successful volunteer, it was her skills obtained from running a business which provided the breadth of knowledge to make the projects successful. Mary stated that she is “most proud of her work done as VP of Finance to which helped to stabilize the chapter by using good business acumen and running the chapter as a business.”  

I received so many personal benefits by being involved in the chapter and there are so many positive things that come out of your giving back. Mary expressed, “you get back exponentially when you give your time. We have come so far in the last ten years for the next generation of the chapter. You are able to connect with people on a different level. It’s different types of engagement, professional, friend, teammate, leader and peer.”  Volunteers set goals together, support each other and by achieving goals together, you demonstrate caring for others and watching your peers grow in confidence. As a volunteer you practice servant leadership.

When I asked Mary what she is looking forward to it was the face to face in the future and continued engagement. It is fun to make the connections and friends over the years. It comes from giving back and caring for each other.

Successful project management requires collaborative leadership skills, clear communication, and courage to embrace constant change. I grew these skills in volunteering and helped the chapter evolve to support the next generation leader.

The world and the chapter are changing for the better. Life is a project, make the most of it.