What PMI Chapter Presidents Learned on Capitol Hill

When PMI offered U.S. chapter presidents the opportunity to spend a day meeting with policymakers on Capitol Hill, they were enthusiastic to take part.

On 28 July, a 30-person delegation, held 45 meetings with Senate and House offices, congressional committees and caucuses. PMI chapter presidents brought perspectives from their industries and communities into conversations about workforce development, education, technology, infrastructure and other issues where project management has a role to play.

The goal was to raise awareness of project management and give policymakers a clearer picture of the people and skills behind successful change. For many of the chapter presidents, it was also their first experience with advocacy. What they found was encouraging: congressional staff were willing to listen, ask questions and keep the conversation going. Several even had family members who are project professionals.

A shared agenda, with room for local perspectives

Chapter presidents arrived on Capitol Hill with a shared foundation for their meetings. Participants received PMI’s U.S. policy agenda and talking points and then created one-page briefs about their individual chapters.

From there, they had room to make the conversations their own. Chapter presidents could draw on their professional experience and focus on issues that mattered to their members and communities, while connecting those issues back to the broader policy agenda.

That led to discussions spanning workforce development, professional certifications, AI skills, education, infrastructure and public-sector modernization. In some meetings, participants also went deeper on issues tied to their own backgrounds or expertise. Military-connected participants, for example, raised questions around skills-based education and veterans’ transition.

That flexibility was part of the value of having chapter presidents in the room. They could speak not only as project professionals, but as people who understood the employers, industries and communities in the places they represented.

Ashima Sharma, president of the PMI Dayton Chapter, saw that range of experience as a strength. Project professionals, she said, develop different perspectives through their careers, industries and ways of working. Her takeaway from the day was simple: “Use your voice.”

Bringing those perspectives directly to policymakers gave chapter presidents a chance to connect broad policy issues to what project professionals are seeing and experiencing in their own communities.

Awareness can’t be assumed

Chapter presidents also learned something quickly: policymakers’ familiarity with project management varied widely. Some congressional staff already understood PMI or the profession. Others knew very little about either. Several survey respondents called out that awareness gap specifically. But lack of familiarity did not mean lack of interest.

Again and again, participants described congressional staff as open, curious and willing to continue the conversation.

Alex Atkinson, president of the PMI Southern Nevada Chapter, said every office his group met with was “very open and engaged and curious,” particularly around challenges such as education and making professional certifications more accessible.

Ruth Powers of the PMI Inland Northwest Chapter came away with one word: accessibility. “They wanted to see us,” she said. “They allowed us to sit down and have a conversation with their staff.”

For many of the chapter presidents, it was their first experience with this kind of advocacy. Jason Briefel, who leads U.S. government affairs for PMI, said most of the presidents had never done anything like it before.

Nate Champion of the PMI Sacramento Valley Chapter summed up what he learned: “People care. They want to listen. They want to figure out how to work together, but they don’t know unless we can share with them our ideas and our perspectives.”

That gets to the reason the profession needs a voice in public policy conversations. Project management may already be relevant to the work government leaders are trying to accomplish. Policymakers won’t necessarily make that connection on their own.

“If you’re not part of the conversation and talking to these folks, you’re going to be written out of the conversation,” Briefel said. “If we want project management at the table and part of the debate in Washington, we need to make that a reality.”

The next conversation may be closer to home

The strongest indication that the day worked may be what participants wanted to do next.

More than half of the congressional offices expressed interest in connecting chapter presidents with staff in their home districts, either to explore areas of collaboration or to facilitate future participation by elected officials in local events.

Some of those relationships started before participants even left Washington.

After meeting with staff from U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen’s office, Atkinson was connected with a local representative in Las Vegas. His plan: invite them to a chapter meeting and keep talking.

Other chapter presidents had similar ideas. Donald Newberry of the PMI North Alabama Chapter said his chapter planned to invite staff from the offices of U.S. Sens. Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville to a chapter professional development event.

The survey responses repeatedly returned to the same theme. Participants wanted to connect with district offices, introduce policymakers to chapter programs, engage state and local leaders and build relationships before they needed something from one another.

That local connection is where Briefel sees some of the greatest potential.

“I think the most insightful thing is just the opportunity locally for our chapters to plug in to the economic, education and workforce development conversations that are happening in their communities,” he said.

For chapters interested in doing that, the first step can be simple: look at the organizations and public leaders already shaping those conversations locally: workforce boards, chambers of commerce, district offices of elected officials, and education and employer groups.

Attend a few meetings. Listen to what they’re working on. Look for places where the experience of project professionals could contribute.

The PMI government affairs team is also developing chapter-level one-pagers and broader education, outreach and advocacy resources to give chapters more support as this work grows.

One day can start a much longer conversation

The 45 Capitol Hill meetings were never going to change policymakers’ understanding of project management overnight. But they did something more foundational: they started relationships. Congressional offices asked to stay connected. Chapter presidents returned home with plans of their own.

There is interest in doing more, including additional resources and training for chapters and potentially another Day on the Hill. What comes next will depend in part on how much interest chapter leaders and members show.

Project management is already connected to the issues policymakers are trying to solve. Infrastructure must be delivered. New technology has to be implemented. People need skills that translate into jobs. Public programs have to turn funding and policy into results.

The opportunity is to make that connection visible, in Washington and much closer to home.

Tags: Chapters | Community | Leadership | Project Management | Volunteering

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