Following the successful conclusion of a three-part webinar series over the past two years, the DEI SIG is pleased to present the findings of a recent survey conducted among the IPMA Member Associations (MAs) titled “Role of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Project Management”. The survey serves as the fourth installment of the webinar series and provides valuable insights into the impact of DEI on project management through the lenses of MAs. The survey, particularly, aims to assess the organizations’ commitment to DEI by evaluating the programs and practices they champion, types of designated leadership roles they have appointed, and the challenges they face. Additionally, the survey also explores whether the IPMA publications on DEI serve as valuable reference resources for the MAs to continuously enhance DEI capabilities for their projects. The findings will be instrumental in both continuing the investigation on enhancing DEI practices to increase project success rates and gauging the interests of MAs for the development of a DEI-related literature and reference guide in the form of an IPMA publication.
The webinar will be held, featuring a panel of esteemed global experts on the subject matter. Register now to gain insights into the survey findings and engage in a discussion on the results.
Speakers
Dr. Teri Okoro has volunteered with IPMA for several years. She is Lead of APM’s People Interest Network, an Assessor for the Project Excellence Awards and supports PMDAN (Nigeria MA) with Membership. Previously Chair of APM’s Women in Project Management SIG, she is passionate about inclusion and social sustainability in project visioning, delivery and outcomes. She wrote the APM’s thought leadership paper on Diversity and Inclusion Joining the Dance, sits on the UK’s Construction Industry Council (CIC) Diversity and Inclusion Committee and advises the the Mayor for London on Inclusion matters as a Mayors Design Advocate. She writes extensively and is an international speaker on Inclusion and Project Management including presenting at both IPMA Diversity and Inclusion conferences.
Mark is a professional consultant with over 35 years of experience in strategic management, leadership and assurance of high risk and high value initiatives in the public and private sectors. He has demonstrated strengths in the disciplines of portfolio, program and project management, business analysis, change management, procurement, contract management and sustainability. He has worked co-operatively and successfully with a diverse range of clients and associates across all levels of government, industry sectors, nations and cultures.
Mark retired from the Australian Defence Force in 2006 after a 31 year career, culminating in his appointment as the Director General Army Aviation Systems Branch within the Defence Materiel Organisation. An Army Aviator by profession, his appointments have included command at the troop, squadron and regimental level.
Since leaving Defence, Mark has run his own Brisbane-based project management consultancy where he specialises in the areas of governance, procurement, project management and contract management with particular emphasis on the establishment, development, maturing and continuous improvement of project management frameworks within public and private organisations of all sizes.
He is a past President of the Queensland Chapter of the Australian Institute of Project Management and Chairman of two not-for-profit charities supporting the underprivileged in the Redlands district of Brisbane.
He is a highly experienced Gateway Review team leader and member having completed over 130 reviews across Australia and New Zealand.
Mark is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Project Management.
Matthias Pietzner is a high experienced project manager and project leader with more than 18 years in leadership positions. Working in many different projects with sometimes high complexity also in an international context gave him a very good overview over the entire IT environment, and he knows all related processes, interfaces and cross functional aspects quite well.
The focus of his work lays on a holistic / systemic consultancy and leadership of and in central IT- and project management departments of church, public, automotive and manufacturing customers but also on delivering concrete project management services to them.
Furthermore, he has proven a deep teamwork ability over the long term and high skills in business development. He owns outstanding capabilities of guiding and motivating heterogenous and geographically distributed teams over the complete project lifecycle.
Mr. Pietzner is lecturer at the University of Applied Science Esslingen (Germany) for more than 10 years for project management and controlling and speaker at international conferences.
Milla is a solution-oriented development and leadership professional dedicated to helping organizations transition to a more sustainable work life. She leverages AI and sustainable leadership practices to drive lasting change. With experience across the private, public, and third sectors, Milla has supported organizations and individuals in over 20 different industries.
Moderator
Dr. Tikajit Rai
Global Head of IPMA SIG Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI)
Dr. Tikajit Rai has over 20 years of PPPM experience in leading capacity in EdTech, wireless technology, and software development spaces. Also, a champion in social entrepreneurship, he won the 2013 IPMA “Gold” for Community Development Project and the 2013 Green Project Management “Silver” for Most Sustainable Project for the project he implemented in Nepal to help rural farmers through ICT. His mantra for successful project and program deliveries has been his favorite quartet: PPPM, Systems Thinking, Entrepreneurial Change, Enabling Thrivability of teams. For him, the last of the quartet focuses on people and DEI is key element of the mantra.
He currently leads and supports both projects and programs at Adtalem Global Education, USA, through LearnoVation team to research, test and scale innovative learning technologies – includes AR/VR, AI, Avatar based simulations – across five education institutions to support its collective 80K+ students succeed academically.
He is an active IPMA PE Assessor and has an active PMP certification. He holds Bachelor of science in Electrical Engineering, Master of Science in Information and Communications Technology, and Ph.D. in eLearning Methodology.
Organizer: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI)
Date and time: August 7, 2025, 2pm CET
Format: webinar
Duration: 1h
Number of CPDs: 1.5
Mode of delivery: online
Ticket price: Free
