PMI Toronto is honouring one of our longstanding members for their dedication and commitment to our project management community. Our member of the month for September is Kathryn Laidlaw. Join us in congratulating Kathryn on this recognition and being a supportive PMI Toronto member.

Career Progression into Project Management

Kathryn has been a member of PMI Toronto for over 20 years. She’s now enjoying her retirement but previously worked in the banking industry in information technology. Earlier in her career, Kathryn was working as a technical developer and worked on several projects. When the opportunity presented itself, she moved into project management, which was a seamless transition.

Achieving her PMP encouraged Kathryn to “learn more about project management by reading more and applying the learnings”. Kathryn would encourage others interested in project management to join PMI Toronto. Joining PMI Toronto means that “you’ll learn more about the profession and meet other PMs at events”.

Projects Can be Fulfilling

Kathryn recalls a project she was proud of that involved making a software platform more accessible. The project meant that Kathryn and her team members needed to learn a suite of accessibility software to understand use cases and how they’d fit in the platform. Once she understood the different types of software required, the team was able to successfully code changes to the platform. The experience was one that taught her so much about the software and she cites this as a very rewarding learning experience.

Of course not all projects are meant to always be successful and Kathryn says that is a great opportunity to understand the reasons why a project may have failed. She explains this is a great learning opportunity and provides great insight. Maybe the project wasn’t ready to pass the Charter stage and had issues. This would be a good chance to re-evaluate and learn to solve any problems.

More About Kathryn

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams” — Eleanor Roosevelt

Kathryn Laidlaw’s support and involvement with PMI Toronto is greatly appreciated. Earlier this year she participated in a focus group which covered different topics with the intention of creating more programs and events that all members could benefit from.

Kathryn believes that success must be defined for yourself. She explains:

Success in the working environment could mean a successful project or a project that wasn’t. If the primary factors involved in either situation included learning and meaningful team interaction, I believe you have success.

Kathryn is an analytical thinker who is loyal and enjoys having fun too. As a member of PMI Toronto, she has found opportunities to meet other members in the community and offer her expertise. She encourages other PMs to join a local Chapter because they can learn so much and meet some great people too.