This month’s Volunteer of the Month, Nicole Clark, arrived in Oregon after an eight month long road trip across the United States. Drawn to the outdoors and community in Portland, she has lived here for almost four years, joining PMI Portland in 2018. She was nominated for her dedication for supporting the Project Management community and ensuring all members have access to the educational resources needed to grow.
Professionally, Nicole is a federal government contractor, working remotely for Econometrica. She serves as the Project Director for multiple projects with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, while also participating in business development by responding to new RFPs. Nicole has earned both the PMP and PMI-ACP certifications. Currently she uses both waterfall and agile methodologies depending on the project, but notes the increasing prevalence of agile, which she finds to be more customer friendly.
As the Director of Education for PMI Portland, her role sits within the Professional Development portfolio and is responsible for planning the education courses that are offered throughout the year. She supports the continued professional growth of our community by leading PMP prep courses to PMI-ACP exam courses. Nicole is also organizing the first ever Leading SAFe course offered by PMI Portland, which will be offered in June 2022.
In her free time, Nicole enjoys hiking and being outdoors. Her pandemic hobby also became a crafty side business and Nicole now sells her hand woven and hand dyed Adirondack pack baskets on Etsy through her store, East Coast Weaver. Light and meant to be worn on your back, these beautiful baskets make it easy to carry your things through the outdoors! She will also be at the Unique Market here in Portland on May 7th and 8th.
To those thinking of Volunteering with PMI Portland, Nicole says to think about a skill or interest you would like to foster, then look for a role to help you develop that. You can truly volunteer for anything! In particular, Nicole would like to highlight that her portfolio is looking for a new Director of Workshops. If you have a passion for putting together high quality training to support Portland project managers, please apply here.
If you’d like to see PMI Portland host any additional certification courses, Nicole welcomes your feedback and input. You can reach out to her directly at dir_education@pmi_portland.org. Next time you see her at an event, or attend one of the certification courses, be sure to say hi, and thank her