Christopher D. Gentry is a seasoned portfolio and transformation consultant with over 15 years of experience leading strategic initiatives for Fortune 500 companies including Dell Technologies, American Express, Deloitte, and Apple. As the founder of Strategy PMO, he specializes in helping organizations align execution with vision through practical portfolio management, PMO leadership, and governance strategies. His straightforward, outcomes-first approach has helped companies across tech, healthcare, government, and retail bring their strategies to life. A frequent speaker, published author, and adjunct professor of IT Project Management at Grand Canyon University, Christopher is known for his candid, energizing delivery and deep real-world insight. 

Debra Cadet, PMP, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, PSM, PSPO, is a transformative Senior Project Management Executive and Toastmaster with 15+ years leading enterprise-level initiatives at Fortune 500 companies, including Essilor Luxottica. As Frontier Division Director and past Area 43 Director, she champions communication-driven leadership to empower teams and streamline success. Her enterprise PMO framework delivered $1.5M in savings and seamless 90-day integrations, fueled by expertise in Agile, Waterfall, and PROPS-C methodologies. A passionate speaker and realtor, Debra engages audiences with vibrant storytelling across PMI, Toastmasters, and industry events. Guided by her mission—Creating the Change You Want to See—Debra will deliver actionable strategies at the 2025 PMI Fort Worth Professional Development Day to unite teams, elevate stakeholder engagement, and turn challenges into opportunities. 

Dr. Arden Dudek is the Founder and Principal Planner of Planning Management Consulting LLC, guiding organizations to achieve strategic alignment from the C-suite to project teams. As a certified member of the John Maxwell Leadership Team, she integrates values-based leadership development for each solution. Dr. Arden specializes in maturing Project Management Offices and consulting on the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). She has successfully launched and directed PMOs in Banking and Higher Education and led a Lean Portfolio Management intake process for Wall Street’s largest Merger and Acquisition. Her Agile team managed priorities and trade-offs of 150+ requests for $12M of IT work within 18 months. Dr. Arden published her dissertation on project management in American universities and contributed to the PMBOK® Guide—Fourth Edition. At Planning Management Consulting LLC, she collaborates with CIOs and Directors of PMOs to navigate strategic priorities, helping businesses get ready to scale. Dr. Arden provides expert project management and leadership solutions, clarifying strategies, prioritizing projects, and building teams of servant leaders. 

Dr. Sherri Williams has a thriving and extensive career in Information Technology and project/program management, with many years of experience. Her roles have included Infrastructure Project Manager, Infrastructure Program Manager, and Triple-platform System Engineer, specializing in enterprise operating system integration, mail systems, directory services design, and enterprise applications. She was the first minority female to be triple platform certified in the Southwest. With a background in leading deployment projects, she transitioned to project management in 2004. She holds a Doctorate in business administration, a master’s degree in project management, and a bachelor’s degree in Human Resources management. She also possesses certifications in PMP, ITILv3, Six Sigma Green Belt, ProSci ADKAR, Lean Six Sigma, SAFe 6.0 Practice Consultant and various systems engineer certifications. Currently, her specialty is as a speaker and writer on project/program management topics, a seasoned corporate trainer, and an infrastructure program and change manager in large corporations or government agencies. 

Jas Gill is a PMP and PMI-ACP certified leader and consultant who specializes in turning complex organizational transformations into relationship-driven success stories. As former Director of Programs & Products at Thomson Reuters, Jas led initiatives impacting over $1B in revenue. He led the strategic build-out of a 1000+ FTE shared services center in Mexico that delivered $112M in cost savings. Most recently, Jas led a $13M Partnership & Alliances program, bringing in 10 workstreams and leaders to deliver a $76M increase in revenue. Currently, Jas is Managing Partner at Summit T3 Consulting, where he coaches professionals and consults organizations while serving on the Board of Directors for Reading Partners, a national educational non-profit. With experience spanning successful technology implementations, organizational restructurings, and large-scale change management across multiple industries, Jas demonstrates a winning philosophy that prioritizes people over processes and relationships over rigidity. 

Michael Warber works in the field supporting data center construction and manages both the people and the parts along with the first line with the customer at the site. He is a certified PM since 2005 and has worked in construction the last 15 years. In addition, Michael has run many races from 5k to ultra marathons. He is active in CrossFit and Hyrox races. He also enjoys the sport not only for the health benefits but getting around at the construction site. Over the past 5 years, Michael has participated in various running events in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area. While on the course, he had a lot of time to think and realized there is parallel with project management. This talk will focus on 8 area of project management and lessons learned in running races that will help with projects. The first area will be managing the initial energy of the race. Either excitement or lack of it and how to build the team. And what to do when it starts to decrease later in the race. The energy or momentum is a key contributor to success. Also, he will talk about how to manage the schedule from the perspective of focusing less on today and more on tomorrow. Attacking issues and handling of errors are other focused topics. What do you do when the text comes in or the numbers on the watch are not what you are expecting. 

Nikki Duncan, PMP, is a business operations leader with over two decades of experience driving transformation across complex franchise networks and remote teams. Known for her integrity, strategic mindset, and ability to build trust across silos, Nikki has led initiatives that improved operational efficiency by 20%, reduced workload by 50%, and scaled a business valuation to more than $100M. With a strong background in change management, stakeholder alignment, and learning design, she specializes in turning resistance into readiness through clear communication, empathy, and strategic intent. Nikki has a B.S. in Management and holds certifications in project management and AI for project leaders. 

Robert Snyder’s thirty-year career spans roles such as developer, project management, change management, sales enablement, and the performing arts. His career path includes corporate roles, consulting roles, startups, PMP, and Agile certifications. He has performed in numerous vocal, dance, and theater ensembles. Robert earned his BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and his MBA in Strategy from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. 

Tiana Reeves is an Information Technology leader, certified Project Manager, and Agile Practitioner with 15 years of experience in Banking and Finance and over a decade in IT. She is the founder of Innov8IT, a company focused on educating the community on proven methodologies for career growth and development. Tiana is also known as @corporate_mom on social media, where she blends leadership and work-life balance with humor. With deep expertise in project delivery, she has led successful implementations across cross-functional teams in global environments and introduced Agile practices to both U.S. and international teams. Her certifications and hands-on experience reflect a commitment to continuous improvement and scalable change. A proud Texas native, Tiana earned her Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington.