Chapter Leadership

Chapter Leadership Org Chart

2018-2019 Board of Directors

President - Titu Hariharan, PMP

Since 2013, Titu Hariharan has served PMI Portland Chapter Board in various capacities; starting in Registration, progressing quickly to Director of Registration, Annual Conference Lead Project Manager for Registration, VP of Programs, and Annual Conference Strategic Committee member. Titu’s decision to pursue her PMP credential led her to PMI's doorstep.

Titu has taken an active role to expand existing programs and starting new ones that bring value to PMI Portland members and the Project Management community, creating awareness and bringing in new members to grow the Chapter.

Titu has experience of over ten years in education, project management, business analysis, event management, sales & marketing, and customer service. She is a leader with strong communication and negotiation skills who can bring people together to achieve project goals and objectives. Titu’s vision is to cultivate a highly engaged culture of members who will learn, grow, inspire, connect with, and give back to the PMI community.  Additionally, volunteers are the heartbeat of PMI; a key goal is to reward and recognize volunteers for their contribution and dedication.

Titu enjoys traveling, reading, and learning about the history and culture of the places she visits. She calls PNW home and lives with her husband, soon-to-graduate daughter, college-bound teenager son and Kona, her chocolate lab. Kona looks forward to his daily walks with Titu, rain or shine. Mostly rain J, hey, it is the PNW after all!!!

President Elect - Ashish Gupta, PMP, ACP

Ashish is very passionate about developing a strong project management community in Portland area. He believes that project management office determines an organization strength and hence more active business community. As an Asst. VP of Professional Development, Ashish helped with developing ACP certification program.

Ashish has more than 17 years of experience in IT field and currently work for the City of Portland as a Technology Business Consultant. He is PMP, PMI-ACP, and SAFe certified. He earned his engineering degree from National Institute of Technology Allahabad, and his dual Masters in Engineering Management and Systems Engineering from Portland State University.

Past President - Stephen Wilks, PMP

Stephen supports adopting new ideas and is a champion of process improvement. He loves to work with volunteers and to serve the chapter and its membership. As the VP of Operations, he has helped bring in several new tools to provide more flexibility for the chapter membership. As President worked to stabilize and build up the chapter volunteer infrastructure for the future of the chapter. Stephen is well-vetted in Information Technology on many levels, including System Support, Technical Support, Web Support and is a “Change Advocate, but not for change sake”.

Stephen is a U.S. Navy veteran, served on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. America CV-66 and has a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology Management. His hobbies change, but he loves experiencing new locations and working with his hands.

Secretary - Caroline Maringa, PMP

Caroline has been a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) Portland Chapter since 2011 and volunteered in different roles and events. She graduated from Portland State University with a double major in Human Resources Management and Supply Chain Management. She also holds a PMI certification as a Project Management Professional (PMP).

In her career Caroline has held various roles in Manufacturing, Bio-Pharmaceutical and Government which have shaped her leadership and project management approach. Currently, Caroline works for the City of Portland as an IT Project Manager and has over six years as an IT project manager. What she enjoys the most about the work are the people, processes and technology.

When not working Caroline can be found spending time with friends and family, traveling, dancing and trying new recipes.  

VP At Large - Lisa McCaffrey, PMP, MBA

Lisa is an experienced tech leader with 12 plus years of experience in the aerospace industry, manufacturing and supply chain (HP, Meggitt Polymers and Composites, Nike, AirShip Tech, Blount Intl). She is passionate about team, leading with integrity and transparency, and guided by her principles of ethics and inclusion. She completed her MBA in Operations and Technology Management at the University of Portland where she enhanced her skills to break down functional silos, combining her skills as a project manager with her Lean training, to create efficiencies within the IT and Supply Chain departments.

Lisa enjoys giving back to the community. She served as The Director of Student Chapters at APICS and has donated time to other non-profits: The Junior League; Girls Scouts of America and Domestic Violence Shelters.

On the personal side, Lisa is an Army brat and a happy transplant to the Pacific Northwest. Lisa loves her Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Maximus Happiness, Max for short. She enjoys a good book, and hiking and exploring the beautiful state of Oregon.

VP of Finance - Kyle Townsend

Kyle Townsend is CAPM certified and seeking his PMP. He has volunteered in Arizona as the assistant VP of Operations and seeks to improve his knowledge and understanding through volunteering here in Oregon, his new place of residence.

Kyle has over five years of finance experience and loves his new city. He is eager to learn and grow from those around him.

VP of Membership (Acting) - Lisa McCaffrey, PMP, MBA (VP at Large)

Lisa is an experienced tech leader with 12 plus years of experience in the aerospace industry, manufacturing and supply chain (HP, Meggitt Polymers and Composites, Nike, AirShip Tech, Blount Intl). She is passionate about team, leading with integrity and transparency, and guided by her principles of ethics and inclusion. She completed her MBA in Operations and Technology Management at the University of Portland where she enhanced her skills to break down functional silos, combining her skills as a project manager with her Lean training, to create efficiencies within the IT and Supply Chain departments.

Lisa enjoys giving back to the community. She served as The Director of Student Chapters at APICS and has donated time to other non-profits: The Junior League; Girls Scouts of America and Domestic Violence Shelters.

On the personal side, Lisa is an Army brat and a happy transplant to the Pacific Northwest. Lisa loves her Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Maximus Happiness, Max for short. She enjoys a good book, and hiking and exploring the beautiful state of Oregon.

VP of Marketing - Greg Spehar, PMP, ACP

Greg has been a member of the PMI community for over 10 years and served on the board for 2 years in 2007 and 2008. He was responsible for initiating the restructuring of the Outreach portfolio and was responsible for developing the directors that report to the VP of Outreach. With his leadership, the new Outreach Portfolio had a clear purpose and was able to perform within their new charter.

Greg is a Director at CorSource Technology Group in downtown Portland. He is helping CorSource manage a large software project. With his MBA, PMP, and ACP, Greg is helping large organizations develop and deploy Agile groups in a local setting and internationally.

VP of Operations - Hakan Kutgun, PMP

 Hakan is a creative developer and implementer of new ideas with an ever curious and critical mindset. Upon attaining his degree in Aerospace Engineering from Middle East Technical University, he worked as a teaching assistant at the same department. Over a diverse engineering, academic and entrepreneur background, he has more than 10 years of PM experience spanning across startup, construction and defense projects with extensive experience managing large scale technical projects. He volunteered for social fundraising projects, acted as career mentor for vocational school students and keynote speaker in various universities over the years. As a diligent professional and licensed professional, he also served as a board member in occupational safety board of his former company in addition to his PM roles. He is a certified PMP, occupational hazards expert and lifeguard as well as a photography artist. Being an ever passionate learner, he is now pursuing a graduate degree in Portland State University’s Engineering and Technology Management Department.

 VP of Outreach - Penelope Luedtke, PMP

Penelope has been involved in PMI since 2013 when her first volunteer stint was for the PMI Global Education Conference. She became PMP certified earlier that same year.

She has worked for the City of Portland since 2000; first in IT as an analyst and currently as a Senior Program Manager building a Facilities Asset Management Program. She has extensive volunteer involvement experience from neighborhood associations to PTAs to PMI. She strongly believes in the benefits and opportunities afforded with a PMI Membership and strives to help all members realize the full value of participating in the PMI Portland Chapter.

VP of Professional Development - Wesly Smith, PMP

Wesly is an information systems leader, experienced in enterprise application management, project management, and system development and integration. He has a passion for making a difference in people’s lives through professional development and has been serving in the Chapter’s Professional Development portfolio since 2015. First, as Director of PMP Certification, then as Assistant VP of Professional Development.

Wesly was born in Portland, grew up on a farm near North Powder, Oregon, and returned to the west side of the state to is earn a B.S. in Business Administration at Oregon State University. He is currently a Principal Information Systems Analyst with the City of Portland, developing and supporting enterprise business solutions.

VP of Programs - Ric Ferrin, PMP

Ric spent a career in the U.S. Navy and has more than 20 years of Program and Project Management experience primarily in aerospace.  He is a firm believer in process improvement, if that means keeping the same or changing to meet a new or expanded need to bring about the results to meet a successful project.  Because of his wide variety of experiences, from Defense to medical to retail and aerospace, he has the ability to bring a thought process that is not confined to a certain group think dynamic.   He is ITIL v3 and PMP certified. He has an MBA and a BS, in Management from the University of Maryland and has completed Doctoral Work in Management.  He moved to Oregon after his Naval Career to be closer to family and nature.

Ric previously served the PMI Portland Chapter Director of Events, ensuring the Monthly PMI Chapter Meeting is and continues to be successful.  His favorite hobbies are hiking and photography.