Tricia Sutton, MSc, MBA, PMP, NPDP
Ms. Sutton is an accomplished, highly motivated, innovative leader and manager with diverse expertise in Program and Project Management, Business Process and Program Design, and New Product Development. Her cross-functional experience in information technology, engineering, manufacturing, sciences, management, regulatory programs, and adult training allows her to lead diverse efforts across many technical industries.She has strong skills in leadership, team-building, process-mapping, risk-management, negotiations and strategy development. Because of her diverse experience and her ability to understand new technologies and computer applications, she is able to explain technical programs to non-technical people and business support staff as well as serve as a liaison between business and technical functions.
She has training in adult learning theory and facilitation techniques and has served as adjunct faculty. She has developed and taught training sessions and courses on project management, project and product lifecycles, Microsoft® Project, and other business topics.
In 1999, Ms. Sutton was awarded the Women of Achievement Award in the Professional category by the YWCA of Lake County and the LUCI Award (Leading Us in Commerce and Industry) Women in Business Award in Manufacturing/Corporate.
She holds a B.S. from Beloit College, a M.Sc. from the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada), an MBA from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management and a certificate in Business Process Design from DePaul University. She also holds certifications as a Project Management Professional (PMP®) from the Project Management Institute (PMI) and a New Product Development Professional (NPDP) from the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA).
Ms. Sutton is active in professional associations, having served as a volunteer and board member of several different groups, including PMI and PDMA. She currently serves as the President of the Chicago Chapter of PDMA. She also is the Chapter Editor for Visions Magazine.
Julie Manning, MM, PMP
Ms. Manning is an energetic facilitator, coach and project leader. She brings an extensive background in project management and process improvement based on management and consulting experiences in sales, marketing, quality, manufacturing, product management and training. Her passion for life long learning has led her to develop and facilitate a variety of courses including Decision Making, Process Improvement and Team Building.
She graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and from Northwestern University’s J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management with a Master of Management Degree (M.M.). She also holds certification as a Project Management Professional (PMP®) from the Project Management Institute (PMI.)
Leigh M. Stewart, MBA, PMP
Ms. Stewart has a 20+ year record of accomplishments in new product development strategy in the healthcare industry. Her expertise in strategic planning, marketing, new product/program development and commercialization, product launches, and project management has resulted in profitable growth for Fortune 500 companies as well as start-up ventures. In order to grow these businesses, she has worked with cross-functional, global teams to develop and implement processes for new product development, launch preparations, and portfolio pipeline management. Her passion is for understanding customers’ needs and translating those into successful product pipelines and portfolios.
Ms. Stewart has assisted in developing four different platforms for IV solutions across different phases in the product life cycle. Her role included providing Voice of the Customer (VOC) input to product requirements during development and preparing business cases, competitive analysis, market segmentation, marketing strategy and planning, and marketing communications.
She achieves significant business goals through effective collaboration, research and analysis, as well as process improvement. She has also demonstrated an ability to lead global teams in a matrixed environment, challenge the status quo, and communicate effectively with all levels.
Ms. Stewart holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Chicago, a Bachelor of Engineering in Biomedical and Chemical Engineering from Vanderbilt University and a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI). Ms. Stewart also is an adjunct faculty member for Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.
Lance J. Welter, MA
Mr. Welter is a highly motivated business development and consulting sales professional who understands relational sales. Through the use of a pragmatic approach of entrepreneurial skill and a Socratic sales strategy, he develops client relationships using both conventional and high tech methods. This relational sales process normally requires long lead times and continual communication networks with feedback loops. The communication is not only between the sales department and client, but also with the product development group and operations, so that requirements are delivered and not just promised.
For over 25 years, Mr. Welter has successfully developed these types of communication networks, both internal and external, across corporate, government, environmental, non-profit, and high tech arenas – from environmental engineering to high tech and agile software development - with the results of increased revenue, market share and customer satisfaction. He has extensive experience working with and serving non-profit organizations, establishing credentialing and certification programs, scoping and overseeing implementation of psychometrically valid tests for different industries and professional specialties.
Mr. Welter holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Communications from Northern Illinois University and a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Communication Theory from Northeastern Illinois University and has expertise in conflict resolution.
Mr. Welter values giving back to the profession and has a long track record of leadership and achievement in professional and civic organizations, including serving as chair of international conferences such as the Agile Alliance 2005 and the XP Agile Universe 2004. He is a member of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), Union League Club (serving on the Communications and Technical Committee), International Committee of the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA), Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR; serving on Policy Committee). In addition, he was co-founder of the Northern California Licensure Certification Network as well as founder of the Midwest Environmental Association.
Beverly Powell, MBA, PMP
Ms. Powell is a results-oriented project, technology, and quality manager with in-depth knowledge of project management and business improvement initiatives from business and project positions in service businesses. Her experience marrying strategy to practice in systems and operations conversions and complex software program development for mainframe, client-server, and web projects makes her an asset to complex, cross-functional assignments. Her efforts have resulted in increased sales or reduced costs. She is highly capable in strategic leadership, problem solving, business case development, needs assessment, risk analysis, workflow analysis, process redesign, and project administration. Her skills in communication, influencing, facilitating, negotiating, and presenting allow her to work with individuals across the corporate spectrum.Ms. Powell leads projects and serves as a team member and facilitator. She serves as subject matter expert, reviewer, and co-designer in development of workshops, including decision analysis.
Ms. Powell holds an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management and a BA from Brown University. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) from the Project Management Institute (PMI).
Alan Ortiz, MBA, PMP, CPIM
Mr. Ortiz brings over 10 years of experience in various aspects of project management, product development, and process improvement in operations and manufacturing. He integrates logic and intuition by drawing on a diverse background, having worked with project managers, entrepreneurs, managers, engineers, and artists as clients. He has strong multi-cultural skills including reading, writing and spoken knowledge of French, Spanish, Japanese, German.He facilitates training and learning workshops, leads cross-functional initiatives, and develops new projects. He is the co-developer with Ms. Sutton of Project Management Training workshops described under Services.
Mr. Ortiz has a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA in Strategy and Information Management from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). He holds a CPIM Certification (Certified in Production and Inventory Management) from APICS and the Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI). He is a member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, PMI, and the International Coach federation.