E91 Transitioning from the Military to Project Management with Art García, Curtis Brown, Cathy Christian
In this episode of Project Management Office Hours Art García, Cathy Christian, and Curtis Brown join PMO Joe for an enlightening discussion about veterans, project management, and mentorship.
One of the themes from the show is a helping hand goes a long way. “Communicating, connecting and mentoring; you’re building your network and the person you help today may be the person that helps you tomorrow.”- Art García. Mentorship can be one of the most influential parts to a successful military transition. Creating safe outlets for a new professional can make all the difference for them.
A great mentor supplies positive influence, guidance and the direction that the person wants to take. “It’s about trying to get people to change their aperture. How can I get this person to open their aperture? Kind of think outside of the box. What are the things that you’ve done? And when you see the light bulb goes off.” -Curtis Brown
Art, Cathy and Curtis provide great leadership to veteran service organizations such as VPMMA, NOVA Job Outreach, PMI, and Onward to Opportunity. “You don’t even recognize what you’re doing, how helpful and impactful that is to the folks that you’re helping. Because to you, it’s just a conversation. It’s just a natural thing that you’re doing. Then when they come back and tell you what an impact it was, you’re like, oh! I had no idea.” -Cathy Christian
Learn more about veteran programs and lend a helping hand visit:
Thank you to THE PMO SQUAD and The PMO Leader for sponsoring this show.
The PMO Squad awarded: Platinum Medallion by the United States HIRE Vets program! The HIRE Vets Medallion Award recognizes a company or organization’s commitment to veteran hiring, retention, and professional development.
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Art García is a program and project management lead at USAA, leading project teams, managing projects and adding value reducing waste.
He is the Co-founder for NOVA jobs outreach where they gather weekly to coach, mentor and support area professionals, transitioning military and veterans, and brother and sisters in need with professional experience to advance their professional development and careers.
Connect with Art García
Founded in 2017 VPMMA was created to connect veterans seeking a career in Project Management with an experienced PM to help mentor and support them in their post military career.
Cathy Christian is an accomplished project management executive and innovative leader with experience overseeing and directing strategic initiatives that solve complex business issues and deliver impactful results.
Deep expertise in thought leadership, strategic planning, process redesign and relationship management. Servant leader known for commitment to inclusion. Excels in team building and training and development. Passion for creating hiring and mentoring programs for women and veterans and engaging in workplace wellness programs.
She retired from Prudential in 2020 so she could devote her time and talent to her passion of giving back and serving others. Christian is involved in a number of non-profit organizations whose focus is serving veterans. Additionally, she is involved in PMI at a local level and is the chapter liaison to national veteran efforts. She also is involved in her local community.
Christian spent 25 years at Prudential and served in a variety of project management positions throughout the company in several different businesses. Throughout her career she managed a number of major enterprise-wide projects and served as a lead of the Enterprise Services and Financial Systems PMO having oversight for many of the high-profile Financial Management projects.
She served as the President and then advisor to VETNET, a business resource group that provides business and personal development opportunities for Prudential employees who are military veterans or who support veteran issues. She was also was very involved with the Veterans Initiatives Office at Prudential. She helped create and launch several key programs including hiring manager training, a mentoring program and workshops on resume writing and interviewing skills.
Previously, Christian was a Captain in the United States Air Force. She flew on the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control (AWACS) aircraft and was responsible for the supervision and instruction of weapons directors onboard the aircraft. She coordinated fighter activity including exercise and real-world contingencies, for Air Combat Command, NORAD, NATO and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In addition, she was responsible for the safety of all assigned fighter and special aircraft. During Desert Storm, Christian coordinated a successful search and rescue effort for three downed Army helicopter aircrew members behind enemy lines.
Christian has an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Syracuse University, a Master’s degree in management from Webster University, and a Masters certificate in Project Management from George Washington University. She also has the PMP (Project Management Professional) designation.
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Founded in 1996, KSJ is a privately held professional consulting firm that specializes in providing Information Technology (IT) management, technical support, and consulting services to the Department of Defense, Federal and State Agencies. KSJ is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia and currently has a local office in San Antonio, Texas.
They assist the DOD and Federal organizations with statutory and regulatory acquisition policy compliance for Major Automated Information System (MAIS) programs within the Federal sector under DoDI 5000.02.
Their staff is fully qualified and certified to support all phases of the Business Capability Acquisition Cycle (BCAC). Their services include support for acquisition education and training, providing analytical and technical assistance, and administering strategic and tactical acquisition management support services.
Mr. Curtis JBL Brown is the founder of Perpetual Coaching & Mentoring, a Public Speaking and Career Enhancement Coaching based professional development company. He founded the company after retiring with 20-years of service in the Air Force where he developed and honed his skills working in the following occupational roles: AC-130U Crew Chief, Public Health Technician, Medical Group Executive Officer, and Military Training Instructor.
In his last assignment of his military career he served as a Military Training Instructor Supervisor operating and maintaining a $30 million Air Force facility, while directly responsible for the health/morale/welfare/discipline of over 5000 recruits annually. He performed over 2000 hours of instruction, facilitation, and mentoring to embolden the Air Force’s Enlisted core. Mr. Brown’s excellence has been recognized countless times throughout his military career, garnering multiple Senior Non-Commissioned Officer annual awards for the group and also a Distinguished Graduate award winner for the Air Force’s Non-Commissioned Officer Academy.
Mr. Brown volunteers as the director of Military Affairs for the Alamo PMI chapter giving back to transitioning veterans and spouses. He conducts briefings at Joint Base San Antonio (Ft. Sam Houston /Lackland/Randolph) Syracuse University’s Onward to Opportunity cohorts and provides one on one mentoring sessions. Curtis is currently the lead instructor for PMP, ACP and ITIL certification exam prep courses with 800 plus instruction hours. He also is a Project Manager for KSJ & Associates and in his current role he supports the Defense Health Agency (DHA).
Curtis is passionate about education and professional development. He currently holds 17 of the industry’s most highly recognized certifications to include: PgMP, PMP, PMI-ACP, PMI-RMP, SAFe SPC5, CSM, ITIL 4 and ITIL 4 IDP. His formal education includes a Master’s degree in Health & Wellness, a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Associate degrees in Aviation Maintenance Technology, Public Health Technology and Education & Training Management.
Connect with Curtis Brown
ABOUT PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE HOURS SERIES
Project Management Office Hours is intended to provide Project Management professionals a place to drop in and discuss Success Stories, Best Practices, and Lessons Learned. Project Management Consultant Joy Gumz has shared with us, “Operations keep the lights on, strategy provides the light at the end of the tunnel, but project management is the train engine that moves the organization forward.”
Each of us has a unique story to tell, but collectively we share a message that organizations who embrace Project Management Best Practices perform better than those which don’t. Organizations which align Projects to Strategy perform better. Organizations with Engage Executive Sponsors deliver better results. Organizations which measure Project Management performance outperform those which don’t.
During our Project Management Office Hours, we hear directly from Industry leaders how to make an impact in our profession. How we, collectively, will Advance Project Management Best Practices, One Listener at a time!
ABOUT YOUR HOST
Joe Pusz started THE PMO SQUAD to bring real world PMO Leadership experience to the consulting space and to advocate for Project Management through his blog PMOJOE.com. The old saying is “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Following this mindset Joe left Corporate America in 2013 to start THE PMO SQUAD and work with fellow Natural Born Project Managers to advance Project Management Best Practices.
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THE PMO SQUAD focuses exclusively on PMO and Project Management consulting. Corporate America is full of Accidental Project Managers running projects who haven’t been trained to be PMs. To help solve this problem THE PMO SQUAD is on the Leading Edge with PMO As a Service. PMO As a Service allows our clients to focus on their respective core competencies while THE PMO SQUAD delivers Project Management expertise. Contact Joe at 678-591-7868. Follow The PMO Squad on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
Where do PMO Leaders go for Information, Learning, Networking and Services? The PMO Leader community has “Everything You Need to Become a Great PMO Leader”. One PMO World, One Community! Learn more about The PMO Leader – www.thepmoleader.com
