Educational Lunch

Are you looking to advance your project management career? Join us for an insightful Virtual Lunch session presented by PMI Buffalo's very own Pauline McKeown, VP of Certification Training, where we'll dive into the key PMI (Project Management Institute) certifications and the requirements to earn them. Whether you're aiming for the PMP® (Project Management Professional), CAPM® (Certified Associate in Project Management), or other PMI credentials, this session will guide you through the steps to certification, eligibility criteria, and training opportunities the Buffalo Chapter offers to ensure your success.

Join us to discuss the role of artificial intelligence in project management, highlighting its potential to enhance productivity and facilitate informed decision-making.

Join us for an exciting day of networking and earning PDUs!  The day will start with keynote speaker Spencer Horn presenting "Strengthening Your Strengths" followed by Nirmayee Dighe discussing how AI is reshaping analytics and tech jobs.  The afternoon will include a speaker panel discussing the difficulties of job hunting.  Our final speaker, Jeff Manhardt, will give an enthralling AI presention on how to leverage mental models to empower you to build highly effective agentic automation that will anticipate needs and execute complex tasks autonomously.

Breakfast and Networking - 1.0 Business Acumen

Stronger Than Your Strengths: The Hidden Key to Sustainable Project Leadership - 2.0 Power Skills

Is AI Replacing Tech Jobs? - 1.25 Ways of Working

Lunch and Networking with Recruiters - 0.75 Business Acumen

Issues Faced by PM's in Today's Job Market - 1.0 Business Acumen

Citizen Intelligence – Using Mental Models for Agentic Automation - 2.0 Ways of Working

Non-members $255

Members $235 (a $20 discount will be applied once you log in)

Students $175 reach out to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for coupon code

Spencer Horn	Nirmayee (Nemo) Dighe	Jeff Mandhardt

Join us for an exciting lunchtime virtual presentation on how Agile has reshaped the way organizations deliver work - but what does that mean for today’s project management professional?

In this session, we explore the evolution of the PM role from traditional delivery oversight to strategic value leadership. Attendees will learn how Agile complements core PM disciplines, how hybrid delivery models are redefining governance, and what skills are essential to remain relevant in a rapidly changing environment.

Jake Housman is a Senior Director at Boston Consulting Group based in Boston, where he leads internal product teams and oversees business intelligence and supplier management capabilities within Operations. Over the past decade at BCG, he has held a range of transformation and product leadership roles, driving operational excellence and building scalable, technology-enabled capabilities that support the firm’s global priorities.

Prior to joining BCG, Jake worked in management and IT consulting, advising organizations on strategy, systems, and execution. In addition to his leadership role at BCG, he has taught Agile software development at Northeastern University in the graduate school of Engineering for the past six years, equipping the next generation of technology leaders with practical, outcome-oriented delivery skills. 

Google Meet login information:

From Project Manager to Value Leader: Thriving in an Agile World
Friday, April 3 · 11:45am – 12:15pm
Time zone: America/New_York
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/ezo-kxoq-soq
Or dial: ‪(US) +1 904-580-8229‬ PIN: ‪585 504 956‬#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/ezo-kxoq-soq?pin=8865654283106

Join us for a virtual lunch with our very own Michael Fiandalo to discuss best practices setting up a PMO. 

This presentation outlines an approach to building and evolving a Project Management Office by repositioning the PMO from a delivery function to a strategic enabler of enterprise value. It emphasizes that effective PMOs are intentionally designed around organizational strategy, culture, and decision‑making needs and not imposed as one‑size‑fits‑all structures. Leveraging the PMI PMO Global Alliance Value‑Ring (Flywheel) framework, he illustrates how PMOs can mature through continuous cycles of strategic alignment, service design, execution, measurement, and value realization. Key themes include establishing the ePMO as the bridge between strategy and execution, prioritizing services that matter most to leadership, measuring outcomes rather than activity, and building a resilient, customer‑centric PMO that adapts over time while enabling data‑driven executive decision‑making.

Michael V. Fiandalo, PhD, MBA, PMP, PfMP, PMI‑PMOCP, PMO‑BP is the Associate Vice President of the Enterprise Project Management Office (ePMO) at Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH). He leads an ePMO that manages the strategic portfolio, ensuring strategic alignment, and value realization. His leadership approach is grounded in positioning the ePMO as a strategic partner that bridges organizational strategy and execution in direct support of ARH’s mission to improve health and promote the well‑being of the people in central Appalachia in partnership with ARH communities. He is an active contributor to the project management profession; he served as a 2025 PMI PMO Global Alliance Judge and served in director roles within the PMI Buffalo and Rochester Chapters. His work emphasizes the design of modern, patient care‑focused ePMO that continuously adapt, leverages data‑driven insights, and enables informed executive decision‑making in support of ARH's strategy and mission.

Save the Date!

PMI Buffalo will be having a virtual PDD in conjunction with David Barrett from Project Bites.  Earn up to 15 PDU's at this all-day virtual event.  

More info to come!