The PMD Pro Virtual Launch
A recent survey of international NGOs indicates that over 80% of their budgets are spent on field-based projects. Each year these agencies spend billions on projects, and thousands of their employees are actively engaged in project teams. However, while projects are central to the culture and work of development organizations, staff members are more frequently hired for their technical skills than their project management capacity. Even a small increase in the effectiveness of project management could yield millions of dollars in returns for these agencies each year. More importantly, better run projects result in greater impacts of development projects.
The PMD Pro is a new competency-based certification for project managers working in development agencies (visit www.pm4ngos.com to learn more). The PMD Pro content, testing mechanisms and learning materials have been deliberately designed to make them:
- Appropriate – the PMD Pro is aligned with existing internationally-recognized project management standards, while including contextualized components specific to the International development sector.
- Accessible – the PMD Pro certification is available via on-line testing mechanisms and learning programs are available in both face to face and on-line formats. The intent is to make resources accessible to individuals and organizations regardless of their location.
- Affordable – the PMD Pro certification examination has been priced on a sliding scale with prices as low as US$20 for staff of organizations headquartered in the developing world. The PMD Pro1 Learning Program is available free of charge, as is the Guide to the PMD Pro1.
In May, PM4NGOs, LINGOs and APMG-International co-hosted two on-line events to launch the PMD Pro certification. The events took place using the Elluminate on-line meeting platform and were scheduled at different times to accommodate participants in locations around the world:
- May 11th – 1PM EDT (New York time)
- May 12th – 9AM GMT (London time)
View the On-line meeting: https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?sid=&psid=2010-05-11.0946.D.646C043176CF9AB0AFA16165A69209.vcr
The launch event was co-facilitated by:
- Richard Pharro, CEO, The APM Group
- John Cropper, Program Manager , Oxfam GB
- Leah Radstone, Project Manager, the APM Group
- Michael Culligan, Director of Technology and Projects, LINGOs.
To see what PMD Pro candidates think of the new qualification visit:
www.apmg-international.com/APMG-UK/PMD_Pro/PMDPro_Promo-UK.aspx
