Volunteering is a vital component to the success of the Ireland Chapter of PMI events portfolio. The vast majority of our speakers volunteer to present webinars and participate in our panel discussions. In 2021, the Director of Events has formed a team of volunteers to work together to influence and promote the chapter events calendar. Between them they have already co-hosted a number of live webinars and are busy organising their own events to add to the calendar in 2021. Find out more about our team of Event Volunteers here.
Hello everyone, my name is Grace Brennan.
I have been a chapter member since 2018 and received my PMP qualification at the beginning of 2020.
I decided to volunteer with the PMI Ireland Chapter as it is a great opportunity to work and engage with my PMI peers. Many of the chapter members have vast PM experience and I am excited to learn from them. As well as furthering my professional development, I’m looking forward to (hopefully!) contributing to the success and growth of the chapter by applying the skills and experience I have gained so far in my career.
I have worked in the Association and Conference Management Industry for over 6 years and currently manage the scientific programme for a large medical education client. Our projects include organising international congresses of up to 10,000 delegates and 5000 exhibition staff. Last year, I undertook the challenge of my first virtual project and was involved in successfully converting a large face-to-face congress to a 3-day virtual congress in a matter of weeks.
Outside of work-life, I love dogs and am a big supporter of animal rescues and charities. One of the perks of working from home for the last year has been being able to bring my dog into the “office” with me. I also enjoy travelling and am eagerly awaiting the day when it is safe to plan my next adventure!
I have worked in IT for over 35 years starting out as a Software Developer in Michigan (USA) and after moving to Ireland (almost 30 year ago!) moved more in Infrastructure direction, including Servers and IP Networking, then Program and Service Delivery Management and now full time IT Project Management.
I joined PMI and successfully became a PMP in 2009. I have settled down in a Senior IT Project Management role with Irish Life. I have a son almost 30 living in New York and a daughter 25 living in Ireland and remarried in 2017. I enjoy playing video games on my PS4 and it has gotten a serious workout over the past year as you may guess! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-girton-pmp-74516114/
I continue to enjoy volunteering to mentor colleagues due to my years of experience but as my kids have grown up and I have had more time I have been volunteering more outside the home, especially as my wife, an ex-nurse, is a very good role model.
Through Irish Life I started volunteering at the Capuchin Day Centre (and miss it now during COVID) and now I’m a trained coach in my step-daughters Special Olympics Bowling Club and helping as Lane Marshall at Ireland events.
I enjoy volunteering with the PMI in a similar way as it not only gives me a chance to meet others but also give back to an organisation that I get back so much (and makes me want to give even more). I enjoyed volunteering at the EMEA PMI event (seems like forever ago in 2019) and now even virtually it gives me an opportunity to give back to the PM community that I have been part of for so many years and help not only current but future PMs on their journey. It is also a great social outlet to make new and catch up with old friends and colleagues so definitely a win-win in every way. I can’t wait until we can all be safely physically together once again but until then virtual it is!
Sharon Carroll
Sharon is currently an undergraduate level 8 Pharmaceutical Science student at WIT. Prior to that in 2020 she successfully completed, QQI level 5 Pharmaceutical Manufacturing traineeship and Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt.
She is relatively new to Project Management and was inspired to pursue it after completing a one-day introductory course which led her to achieving her Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) in 2020.
Since then, she has actively engaged in a volunteer role with the Chapter of Ireland Project Management and Dubai Chapter in UAE and has actively engaged in many activities and events. Her passion for volunteering is that she loves to be able to give back and use her transferable skills to help out where she can and sees as non-profit organisation just as valuable as a profitable one.
She hopes to progress in the Project management industry and gain more exposure to the processes and knowledge group areas as well as networking with colleagues alike. She aspires to achieve her PMP certification post-graduation from her current Degree.
In her down time, she loves nothing more than a good run on the beach and has recently taken up horse riding lessons. She loves to keep up to date with current trends and updates herself frequently by reading books and articles.
Santosh Joshi
I am an Information Technology Delivery Head who helps customers to achieve strategic business objectives and maximize business benefits with high customer satisfaction. I have more than 23 years of overall experience, with focus on Project, Program and Portfolio management, across multiple geographies including USA, Europe, Australia and India.
I am associated with PMI for 17 years and I hold PMP and PgMP certifications from PMI. I also hold Prince 2 foundation and practioner certifications.
On personal front, I live in Dublin with my wife and two kids. I enjoy travelling and plays chess as a hobby.
After being a beneficiary of PMI standards & processes, I would like to give back my best to the PMI community. I found volunteering is the best way to serve PMI community with my management experience and expertise. Looking forward to connect with management professionals through PMI Ireland chapter.
I have been with Dell Technologies for 17 years, starting in Texas and then moving to Ireland in 2007, working in a variety of roles.
My most recent role as the Internal Events Director for EMEA allowed me to develop my skills as a project and program manager, enabling our internal sales teams with world class events.
As a new member of PMI, I’m eager to develop my network of project managers and leverage my experience as an events manager to support PMI Ireland.