Board of Directors

President / CEO

Marina Prasek, PMP is the Project Office Manager at Mettler Toledo AutoChem.  In her role, Marina is responsible for leading New Product Development projects. She is also the Owner of Project Management Processes, responsible for championing improvement initiatives and developing and delivering training workshops on Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) for AutoChem.

Marina started her career as a Physical Organic Chemist and held various positions in academia before moving to the corporate world. She has extensive experience with Product  Lifecycles Management and managed product lines for the Defense market from business justification to product retirement.  Marina has also served both as a subject matter expert (SME) and competitive market analyst in the submission of grants to federal funding agencies. 

to reach out to Marina, please email marina.prasek@pmisomd.org

Vice President/COO

Harry Zolkower, PMP is Vice President of PMI of Southern Maryland and previously held positions as Assistant Vice President and Vice President of Membership. 

To reach out to Harry, please email harry.zolkower@pmisomd.org

Vice President of Administration

Marilyn Ragin

To reach out to Marilyn, please email vpadmin@pmisomd.org

Past President

Jeffrey (Jeff) Yellets is a Project Management Professional (PMP).  He currently works for Spalding Consulting, Inc. as a PMO Manager. Previously, Jeff worked for Eagle Systems, Inc. in Business Development and for Brandes Associates as the Business Unit Director and the Director for Business Development, at SAIC, serving in various project and program management roles in NAWCAD in St. Inigoes, MD and at Honeywell where he served in various engineering and program management roles. He has a Masters of Science and Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering and has experience with complex project and program management.  As a manager at Honeywell, he lead a team of engineers and scientists in the engineering, design, and delivery of advanced automation and control programs and projects. He has been a PMP and a member of the Southern Maryland PMI Chapter since 2010.

 To reach out to Jeffery, please email jeff.yellets@pmisomd.org

Vice President of Membership and Community Involvement

Sheryl LaGrange is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP)® and has been a member of PMI since 2015. She is an accomplished Program Manager who has successfully led projects by guiding and inspiring teams to provide client solutions that deliver value. Her project management experience spans the private sector, non-profit, international, and government organizations. She holds a BS from American University and MBA and MIM degrees from the University of Maryland, University College. She is also an active member of and participant in several professional associations and community organizations.

To reach out to Sheryl, please email sheryl.lagrange@pmisomd.org

Vice President of Finance

Major General (Retired) Sanford E. Holman joined the PMI Southern Maryland Chapter and attended his first Professional Development Day in November 2016 and began chapter volunteer work in July 2017. He has over 37 years of commissioned service with over 22 years of active duty and 19 years of civilian project management experience. He hails from Gary, Indiana and earned a Bachelor’s degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, and was commissioned as an Infantry Officer in 1978. He has commanded from the platoon to the division level and has served as a staff officer from the battalion to the OSD/Joint Staff level.

His combat deployments include OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM and OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM. His military education and training include two Master’s degrees, one from the Florida Institute of Technology and the other from the National War College. His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star Medal. Sanford is a Senior Management Consultant with PCI-Strategic Management in Columbia, MD.

To reach out to Sanford, please email sanford.holman@pmisomd.org

Corporate Officers

Director of Operations for Programs and Events

Michelle Weddington

Greetings PMI—Southern MD Chapter…

I would like to share very briefly that though I am a native of Maryland, I have also had the pleasurable opportunity of holding residence in various locations ( most recently Iowa-10 yrs!--- 5 other US states, Montreal, QC & Brussels, Belgium) & now returning to the DMV with an expanded cultural & experiential diversity.

Professionally, I hold an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland and a few undergraduate degrees and certifications, and of course, a member of the Project Management Community. I greatly enjoy working as a Management Consultant (10+ yrs) and have been opportune to serve in a varied listing of arenas and industries, from NGOs & legal to education and healthcare. In earlier years, I served as a Registered Nurse and later transitioned into Business, Management & Consulting. Now as part of my company, I greatly enjoy planning/constructing events & using innate creativity in both professional and domestic settings. The events range from office seminars and university symposia to international business conventions. (etc.)

My beginnings were from a relatively large family, with a very rich heritage and consisting of five other siblings. I am a dual, US/Canadian citizen. I have light linguistics in Spanish & French and am pursuing fluency, as I celebrate diversity and culture.

I am glad to now serve as a new PMISOMD Board member and hope to grow further and contribute all I can to the organization.

To reach out to Michelle, please email michelle.weddington@pmisomd.org

Director of Operations for Education and Certification/Military Outreach

Scott Johnson is a Project Management Professional (PMP) since March of 2019. He currently serves in the United States Air Force as an Aircraft Maintenance Assistant Manager. He has been serving since January 2008 and has worked on multiple different aircrafts such as the VC-25, C-32, and the AC-130U. He ran numerous projects inside of his Squadrons and deployed 5 times in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Throughout his service, he has volunteered to manage and run different private organizations.

In 2018 he was the 89th Air Wing Top 3 Professional Development Coordinator scheduling professional development briefs for over 300 Senior Non Commissioned Officers. Previously from 2015 to 2017, he was the Program Manager for the Total Force Development Council responsible for the scheduling of 40 facilitators who briefed John Maxwell Leadership principles to over 1,500 Joint Service members.

Scott earned his Masters of Science in Aeronautics in 2016 and his Bachelor of Science in 2013 through Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He is currently working on a Master of Education in Teaching through American Military University. He furthered his educational experience in 2019 by achieving his PMP and Airframe and Powerplant certification. He has been a member of the Southern Maryland PMI Chapter since 2020.
To reach out to Scott, please email scott.johnson@pmisomd.org

Director of Operations for Website and Content Management (Acting)

Dr. S. Raschid Muller Ph.D.,(PMP)® is a Cybersecurity Executive and United States Navy Veteran with 20 years of experience working in government and is at the helm of Cyber Watch Technologies, LLC as its Chief Executive Officer.

While employed with the Department of Defense, he ran the following programs: Cybersecurity Infrastructure Tools (CSI) ($5 Million), Assured Compliance Assessment Solution (ACAS) ($27 Million),  and Joint Regional Security Stacks (JRSS) global deployment ($36 Million). He was the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) rotational engineer for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks & Information Integration (ASD-NII) and was the sole-source acquisitions lead for DISA, Air Force Network Integration Center (AFNIC), and US STRATCOM for cloud solutions ($47 Million). In an academic capacity, he served as the Defense Information Systems Agency Information Operations Chair and Visiting Professor at National Defense University from 2017 – 2019 where he taught technical and non-technical Cybersecurity courses to military commanders and senior leaders in the federal government.

Dr. Muller was selected to the 2020 Class of The Brookings Institution Executive Education – LEGIS Congressional Fellowship and served on the House Committee for Homeland Security under the leadership of Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS). He was the cybersecurity technical SME assigned to the Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation subcommittee that consisted of attorneys and analysts who drafted cyber policy. His portfolio consisted of oversight of the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), election security, cyber curriculum and development, cyber policy, and HBCU/MSI-STEM engagement for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). He is also an Executive Leadership Academy Fellow at the University of California – Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy.  Dr. Muller is a Life Member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated, a Life Member of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and has affiliations through Jack and Jill of America, The Links Inc. (Connecting Link), and is an active Prince Hall Shriner (A.E.A.O.N.M.S., Inc.).

To reach out to Raschid, please email dr.raschid.muller@pmisomd.org

Director of Operations for Volunteerism

Keisha A. Nelson works as a Senior SharePoint Administrator and IT Project Manager at USDA and is responsible for leading and executing SharePoint initiatives within the Department. In her role, Keisha serves as the Subject Matter Expert (SME), SharePoint Evangelist and Customer Experience Champion by leading ad-hoc teams to deliver quality products by continuously improving business processes. As a Better Government Ambassador and USDA IT Fellow, Keisha has the remarkable ability to successfully combine customer experience success with effective long-term strategic planning.

Keisha has a strong technical and teaching background. She is known for her ability to be able to communicate technical information in a way that is understandable to all audiences. She holds a Master’s degree in Information and Telecommunications Systems from Johns Hopkins University, and two Bachelor of Science degrees in Information Systems and Health Information systems, respectively from the University of Maryland – Baltimore County. Keisha has a passion for community service and enjoys making a difference in the lives of others through consistent community service. She is a mentor to young girls, as well as a Girl Scout troop leader and an Election Judge. Keisha is also an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and looks forward to sharing her skills and talents with the Southern Maryland PMI chapter. Keisha received her PMP certification in October 2019 and has been a member of the Southern Maryland PMI chapter since 2019.

 To reach out to Keisha, please email keisha.nelson@pmisomd.org

Director of Operations for Communications

.

Chris Reed currently works for a government contracting company supporting NAVAIR at Patuxent River in the role of Program Analyst/Risk Manager. Chris holds various certifications including the Project Management Professional (PMP), Profession Scrum Master and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. Chris served a decade in the United States Marine Corps spending time as an instructor and attending various courses and schools to learn professional communication, leadership, and management skills. Chris will also be finishing his Bachelor of Science in Project Management in the latter half of 2021.

To reach out to Chris, please email chris.reed@pmisomd.org

Members at Large

Member at Large

Mary Haasch
To reach out to Mary Haasch, please email mary.haasch@pmisomd.org

Member at Large

Greg Olson

 To reach out to Greg Olson, please email greg.olson@pmisomd.org

Member at Large

Beth Tanner has spent the last thirty years learning and growing in the project management and IT fields. She spent the first part of her career in the nonprofit sector, primarily working with membership and professional organizations, and most recently has been working in higher education in various capacities. She is currently a government contractor for Zantech IT.  She has an MBA and an MS in Technology Management, an undergraduate degree in Philosophy, and is working on a second BS in Computer Networking and Cybersecurity. She has been a PMP since 2011, used to be a CCXP, and has a handful of ITIL certifications. When she's not managing projects or conducting analysis, she is a writer and loves to cook, travel (when it's safe) and do genealogy.

To reach out to Beth, please email beth.tanner@pmisomd.org