Candidates for the 2015 Election of Board of Directors
VP, Finance and Administration
Kim Reed:
Kim has been with BNY Mellon since 1994. She has held various positions
from operations to her current role as manager of the Technology PMO.
Kim’s team produces standard reporting that is allowing the technology
group to focus on Project Delivery and improve the projects we deliver to the
business. Kim is also responsible for moving the corporation forward in terms
of Program and Project Management (IT-CMF). Kim has a bachelor’s degree
in Computer information systems and a master’s degree in Internet
Information systems. Kim also has her Project Management Certification and
is an IT-CMF certificated Professional. Kim is a mentor at BNY Mellon helping
new project managers to build their career. Kim volunteers on many nonprofit committees including: PMI Pittsburgh Chapter (VP Finance), Toastmasters Culturally Speaking
Chapter (VP of Finance), Pennsylvania Associated of Gifted Education (Vice President), and two Parent
Teacher Organization boards.
VP, Education and Certification:
Valerie Carpenter:
Valerie Carpenter is a program manager for Bechtel Marine
Propulsion Corporation (BMPC), Bettis Laboratory, where she is
currently responsible for growing the project management
capability and supporting the Executive Staff as part of the
Enterprise Management Office. In her more than 30 years at
BMPC, Valerie transitioned from engineering to management or
project management, covering diverse types of projects or
programs including technical, operational systems, business
system, and corporate consolidation. She was recently certified
as a change management practitioner for her company. She holds a Masters in Business
Administration and Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering, both from the University of
Pittsburgh. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) by the Project
Management Institute (PMI), and currently holds the position of VP of Education for the
chapter. Valerie began volunteering for the Pittsburgh Chapter in 2011, where she joined the
Education and Development team to set up training workshops, and then initiated and led
teams to produce the chapter’s three Professional Development Day events.
Objective:
If elected, Valerie will continue her efforts to provide education and development opportunities
for the chapter by first reaching out to better understand the learning needs of chapter
members and then by benchmarking and collaborating with other PMI chapters to discover
best practices. She will strive to increase the number of affordable education and development
offerings by partnering with service providers and helping members to take advantage of online trainings and webinars.
VP, Membership and Volunteers
Joanne Sarachine:
As product manager of Amerinet/DataBay Resources, Joanne Sarachine
is responsible for strategic planning and successful execution of the
organization’s business development and marketing goals for a
comprehensive suite of IT solutions and data analysis tools and
services.
Joanne’s diverse career spans more than 25 years and includes
positions in project management, information technology (IT)
application development and nursing. Prior to joining DataBay
Resources, she provided her clinical and IT skills for other organizations such as Management Science
Associates, Coventry Health Care, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Xerox, Highmark and
Allegheny Health Education & Research Foundation (AHERF). Joanne holds a Master of Business
Administration from University of Pittsburgh and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Indiana
University of Pennsylvania. In addition, she earned a master’s certificate in project management for
information technology and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) by Project
Management Institute (PMI). Currently, Joanne holds the position of VP of Membership for the chapter.
Actively Involved with the Pittsburgh Chapter, 2005 – Present:
 2005 – Actively attended Chapter Meetings and other sessions offered by the Chapter
 2006 to 2011 – Volunteer with the Membership committee and Chairperson Hosting committee
 2012 to 2013 – Director, Membership
 2014 to present – VP, Membership
Objective:
If elected, Joanne will continue her efforts to support chapter membership growth and retention by
understanding your needs and expectations, broadening opportunities to use chapter analytics, and
expanding communications to welcome our new and existing members. She will continue to strengthen
the volunteer efforts within the chapter and focus on integrating our chapter into the global PMI
volunteer relationship management process. Joanne will collaborate with the Global PMI and regional
chapters in search of improvements for our membership and volunteer activities.