Get Involved

Welcome New Volunteers

Below are some of our talented PMI Portland Chapter volunteers. We'd love to feature you on this page! If you are interested in joining this illustrious group, growing your skills and your network, see the Volunteer Opportunities web page.

Nicholas Teed, CAPM, Assistant Director of Workshops

Paula (PJ) Duckhorn, Director of Annual Conference Registration

Nicole Nowlin, PMP, Director of Annual Conference

Nicole Nowlin is a certified Project Management Professional with over a decade of experience in project and program management, though if you ask her, that's been her default working mode since high school. She enjoys being the facilitator for her teams to get their puzzle finished, regardless of the industry she is working in. An overcommitted volunteer with an extensive nerdy wardrobe, Nicole is proud of her multitasking superpower, her recent kidney donation, and her bachelor's degree in International Business/Japanese from Pacific University. Her latest volunteer endeavor is Assistant Director of Logistics for PMI PDX's annual conference in the fall.

Jennifer Ellis, CAPM, Director of Annual Conference Finance

Jennifer comes to us with a variety experiences in management, project management and coordination, as well as practice management in a health care setting. She has a BS in chemistry, a MS in Bioresource engineering and is a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM).

In her spare time Jennifer enjoys baking, backyard bird watching, reading, and live performing art shows (theater, dance, story telling, etc). She can often be found planning an outing with friends or family and enjoys walking in her neighborhood and the occasional hike or bike ride. She lives with her husband and two teenage sons.

Paul Bunn, PMP, Director of Annual Conference Operations

Billy Shanks, CAPM, Director of Annual Conference Logistics

Elizabeth Reed, Director of Annual Conference Speakers

Naznin Akter, PMP, Assistant VP of Marketing Communications

Naznin Akter is a highly accomplished professional with a strong background in Electrical Engineering and Project Management. She holds a Ph.D. and MS degree in Electrical Engineering from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Florida International University. She is currently working as a TD Module and Integration Yield Engineer for Intel Corporation.
Naznin's commitment to professional development led her to obtain the Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI). Leveraging her engineering background, she seamlessly combines her technical prowess with her passion for project management. With over 3.5 years of experience in project management, Naznin firmly believes that engineers can excel as project managers and effectively bridge the gap between technical teams and project stakeholders. In her quest for continuous growth, Naznin has actively contributed to the South Florida PMI chapter as a Marketing Content Developer during her two years (2020-2021) of volunteer experience. Currently, she holds the esteemed position of Assistant VP of Marketing Communications in the Portland PMI Chapter. Through these roles, she has honed her communication and leadership skills, effectively drove marketing initiatives, and fostered strong professional relationships. Furthermore, Naznin's leadership abilities extend beyond PMI chapters. Within the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), she holds multiple leadership positions. Her dedication to serving the engineering community and driving innovation has been widely recognized.
Naznin aspires to consistently push outside her comfort zone, embrace new challenges, and learn something new every day. She believes that by continuously improving her leadership and management skills, she can deliver exceptional results and inspire her teams to reach new heights.

Sean McNiff, PMP, PMI-ACP, Director of Education

Molly Chitwood, Director of Annual Conference Marketing

Jade Shillingford, PMP Assistant Director of Annual Conference

Phyllis Hootman, PMP VP of Programs

Phyllis is an accomplished and visionary leader with over 25 years of experience in program management and strategic initiatives. Throughout her career, she has worked with enterprise technology and manufacturing companies to build strong teams and develop cross-functional relationships that increase collaboration, drive deliverables, and achieve breakthrough results.

Phyllis is highly regarded for her exceptional communication skills, has an inquisitive nature, and is approachable. She is comfortable working with executives and has no issues rolling up her sleeves to get the job done.

In addition to her strong leadership skills, Phyllis is passionate about improving processes and tools. She continually seeks out opportunities to streamline processes, tools, and enhance efficiency.

Outside of work, Phyllis enjoys traveling and volunteering for various communities and causes such as Women in Science and Engineering, Homeowner Associations, and Credit Unions.

Stephanie Moen, PMP Assistant Director of Annual Conference Customer Experience

Surbhi Bhartari, PMP Assistant Director of Registration

Surbhi has done her Masters in Life-science. After completed her Masters, She worked for Havells India Limited for more than 3 years. Her role was in managing New Product Development category multiple research projects. Due to her strong passion for Technology along with managing work gave her early promotion. She has been Promoted to Senior Executive & has worked with upper management of Havells. She has worked on emerging technologies & amazing Product lines & take pride to see her developed products in the market. She has been a proven leader in her work. She had one research publication in Nature Journal for her
research work during studies & one patent inventor with Havells in new designed component.
She moved to Portland, Oregon from India in 2022. Moving to United States was a big change in her life. Since then, she explored & adjusted to a new environment and wanted to grow her carer in Project Management, so she gave her PMP exam & successfully earned it in 10 November 2022. Since she was waiting for her work permit, she decided to explore volunteering positions on PMI website. And finally she came across about the volunteering position for PMI Portland.
She got introduced to Sue Erickson, Asst VP of Program Portfolio. Sue has been a good mentor to her & she is happy to be a part of her team. Surbhi was whole heartedly welcomed by the PMI Portland community. Since then she has been supporting Chapter meetings & taking care of registration activities & assigned a Assistant director of registration role. Surbhi is delighted to be part of Program Portfolio team where She is learning, exploring & happy to grow her career in the Project Management field with PMI.
She recently received her work permit & is in process of job hunt. Joining PMI Portland was her good decision & will definitely help her in networking opportunities & shape her career.
In her free time, Surbhi loves to do hiking & outdoor activity. She recently finished her Half Marathon, strongly believe in investing time into fitness. Surbhi loves nature and Portland is the best place she can asked for. She enjoys meeting new people, new cultures.
She highly encouraged people to join PMI Community, there is ample of learning opportunities & to expand your Horizons to shape their career and a lot more.