Barbara Schrage

Barbara has over 25 years of experience in all aspects of project management, program management, and project portfolio management, culminating in the role of assistant vice president of a centralized project management office (PMO) in a Fortune 500 financial services organization. As leader of the PMO, she was accountable for project portfolio management, project prioritization, project approvals, project methodology, and project metrics. In addition, she was accountable for results of projects led by the project and program managers within the PMO. She also mentored and developed leadership skills in project and program managers.

Barbara owns a consulting business called Practical Project Management LLC. She helps her clients mature their project management practices by implementing project management offices, implementing project portfolio management, and standardizing and improving their project management processes, among other methods. She teaches project management courses on-site and within organizations, and she also coaches and mentors leaders of PMOs and project, program, and portfolio managers. In addition to her experience in the financial services industry, she has worked with clients in healthcare, energy and utilities, engineering, manufacturing, biotech research, government, retail, market research, and other industries.

Barbara has been certified as a project management professional (PMP) since 1997 and has been a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) since 1991. In 2002 she co-founded the Northeast Wisconsin PMI Chapter and was elected to serve as the chapter's first president.