Welcome New Volunteers
Below are some of our talented PMI Portland Chapter volunteers. We'd love to feature you on this page! If you are interested in joining this illustrious group, growing your skills and your network, see the Volunteer Opportunities web page.
Billy Shanks, CAPM, Director of Annual Conference Logistics
Elizabeth Reed, Director of Annual Conference Speakers
Naznin Akter, PMP, Assistant VP of Marketing Communications
Naznin Akter is a highly accomplished professional with a strong background in Electrical Engineering and Project Management. She holds a Ph.D. and MS degree in Electrical Engineering from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Florida International University. She is currently working as a TD Module and Integration Yield Engineer for Intel Corporation.
Naznin's commitment to professional development led her to obtain the Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI). Leveraging her engineering background, she seamlessly combines her technical prowess with her passion for project management. With over 3.5 years of experience in project management, Naznin firmly believes that engineers can excel as project managers and effectively bridge the gap between technical teams and project stakeholders. In her quest for continuous growth, Naznin has actively contributed to the South Florida PMI chapter as a Marketing Content Developer during her two years (2020-2021) of volunteer experience. Currently, she holds the esteemed position of Assistant VP of Marketing Communications in the Portland PMI Chapter. Through these roles, she has honed her communication and leadership skills, effectively drove marketing initiatives, and fostered strong professional relationships. Furthermore, Naznin's leadership abilities extend beyond PMI chapters. Within the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), she holds multiple leadership positions. Her dedication to serving the engineering community and driving innovation has been widely recognized.
Naznin aspires to consistently push outside her comfort zone, embrace new challenges, and learn something new every day. She believes that by continuously improving her leadership and management skills, she can deliver exceptional results and inspire her teams to reach new heights.
Sean McNiff, PMP, PMI-ACP, Director of Education
Molly Chitwood, Director of Annual Conference Marketing
Jade Shillingford, PMP Assistant Director of Annual Conference
Phyllis Hootman, PMP VP of Programs
Phyllis is an accomplished and visionary leader with over 25 years of experience in program management and strategic initiatives. Throughout her career, she has worked with enterprise technology and manufacturing companies to build strong teams and develop cross-functional relationships that increase collaboration, drive deliverables, and achieve breakthrough results.
Phyllis is highly regarded for her exceptional communication skills, has an inquisitive nature, and is approachable. She is comfortable working with executives and has no issues rolling up her sleeves to get the job done.
In addition to her strong leadership skills, Phyllis is passionate about improving processes and tools. She continually seeks out opportunities to streamline processes, tools, and enhance efficiency.
Outside of work, Phyllis enjoys traveling and volunteering for various communities and causes such as Women in Science and Engineering, Homeowner Associations, and Credit Unions.
Stephanie Moen, PMP Assistant Director of Annual Conference Customer Experience
Surbhi Bhartari, PMP Assistant Director of Registration
Surbhi has done her Masters in Life-science. After completed her Masters, She worked for Havells India Limited for more than 3 years. Her role was in managing New Product Development category multiple research projects. Due to her strong passion for Technology along with managing work gave her early promotion. She has been Promoted to Senior Executive & has worked with upper management of Havells. She has worked on emerging technologies & amazing Product lines & take pride to see her developed products in the market. She has been a proven leader in her work. She had one research publication in Nature Journal for her
research work during studies & one patent inventor with Havells in new designed component.
She moved to Portland, Oregon from India in 2022. Moving to United States was a big change in her life. Since then, she explored & adjusted to a new environment and wanted to grow her carer in Project Management, so she gave her PMP exam & successfully earned it in 10 November 2022. Since she was waiting for her work permit, she decided to explore volunteering positions on PMI website. And finally she came across about the volunteering position for PMI Portland.
She got introduced to Sue Erickson, Asst VP of Program Portfolio. Sue has been a good mentor to her & she is happy to be a part of her team. Surbhi was whole heartedly welcomed by the PMI Portland community. Since then she has been supporting Chapter meetings & taking care of registration activities & assigned a Assistant director of registration role. Surbhi is delighted to be part of Program Portfolio team where She is learning, exploring & happy to grow her career in the Project Management field with PMI.
She recently received her work permit & is in process of job hunt. Joining PMI Portland was her good decision & will definitely help her in networking opportunities & shape her career.
In her free time, Surbhi loves to do hiking & outdoor activity. She recently finished her Half Marathon, strongly believe in investing time into fitness. Surbhi loves nature and Portland is the best place she can asked for. She enjoys meeting new people, new cultures.
She highly encouraged people to join PMI Community, there is ample of learning opportunities & to expand your Horizons to shape their career and a lot more.
Drew Krause, PMP Assistant VP of Governance
Steve Milford, Director of Annual Conference Operations
Jena Passaretti, Director of Annual Conference
Jena Passaretti is an IT project manager at Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU). She has been at OHSU for almost 7 years but before that she has a varied background in everything from higher-education program management, restaurant and hospitality services, non-profit coordination, and even classroom teaching. She moved to Oregon in 2015 with her husband and likes to spend her free time exploring new places in Portland with her husband and 2.5 year old. On rainy days you can catch her playing board games or cuddling up with a good book and a lap cat. As the newly appointed Director of Annual Conference, Jena is thrilled to bring her special brand of organization, event coordination and leadership to the role.
Jeffrey James, Director of Content Strategy
Stephen Young, PMP, Assistant VP of Finance
Karl Ahlen, P.E., PMP, Director of Registration
Nazih Hijaouy, PMP, Assistant Director of Events
Aisha Boldon, PMP, Director of Social Media
Aisha is a PM with 19 years of experience project managing hardware and software development projects. Aisha has worked on both CPU and BIOS (firmware) validation teams as a program manager, and also worked in IT where she honed her skillset as a product owner for an agile marketing software development team. Aisha has also worked as a lab planner and obtained a lean six sigma green belt to supplement her work to identify lab operations efficiencies.
More about Aisha (pronounced Ai-sha not A-ye-sha)...
On a personal front, Aisha has a 14 yr. old son. Hobbies are skiing, biking, and watching her favorite sports teams (Portland Trailblazers 😊, SF 49ers ☹ & PSG (Paris Saint-Germain F.C. 😊)).
Brooke Steinbock, Director of Member Services
Brooke Steinbock, recently appointed Director of Member Services, joined the Portland Chapter of PMI in 2021. Brooke moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2006 and fell in love with it (yes, even the rain!). She is passionate about lifelong learning and constantly seeking new challenges and experiences. Most days you can catch her running around the waterfront or dining at local restaurants. Someday soon (as the pandemic eases) she hopes she and her new husband can finally take their honeymoon to Patagonia, South America.
Colton Smith, Director of Community Outreach
Colton Smith, a lifelong Oregonian hails from Albany and loves everything the great state has to offer, from the rain and shine of the coast (he prefers the rain, less crowded) to golfing, skiing, and every new restaurant pdx can come up with. After graduating from University of Portland, he landed on Nike's North America finance team and has been there for 5 years. Now he is looking to gain his PM certification and move his career forward into the world of project management. As the Director of Community Outreach, he plans to bring his experience with non-profits, his own brand of service-led leadership, and his fun-loving personality to the role, while also learning from others along the way. Andrew Lam, PMP, Asst. Director of Technology Support
Olivia Glassow, CAPM, Director of Quality and Director of Annual Conference Volunteers
Phil Hairfield, Director of Newsletters
Jayden De Vera, Director of Volunteer Management
Corrinna Griffis, PMP, Director of Volunteer Services
Sue Erickson, PMP, Assistant Director of Programs
Dan Schweitzer, Assistant Director of Corporate Outreach
Shari Byrnes, PMP, Director of Volunteer Recognition
Nasim Karami, Director of Association Outreach
Nasim is a strategic PM with a background in the manufacturing, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and healthcare industries. She is a progressive thinker with a passion for innovative business solutions, translates her deep understanding of business priorities into PM strategies that align with the business.
She partners closely with the executive team to support and drive business results, foster manager and employee success, and ensure a high-performing, engaged workforce. Nasim holds a Master’s degree in Engineering and Technology Management and Project Management graduate certificate from Portland State University.
In her free time, Nasim likes to paint, craft, read and travel. Nasim looks forward to working closely with Portland chapter project manager practitioners.
