John Foster has more than 15 years of Management and Project Management experience.  He is an experienced Software Project Manager, and has managed projects for companies such as Sony, Barnes & Noble, Wells Fargo, and the State of Virginia Department of Revenue.  John has degrees in Finance, Accounting, Economics, an MBA in Management Information Systems, Computer Science Education, is a PMP, and is currently enrolled in the Stanford Advanced Project Management Program.  John was a reviewer and contributor to the current Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge 3rd Edition and the original Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3).

John was on the original San Diego Project Management Conference team and has held many positions within PMI San Diego, including Ambassador Chairperson, VP of Programs, and President.  He believes that the more you put into an organization, the more you will get out of it.  His vision for PMI is to see the PMP as well recognized as the CPA, and to help members leverage the PMI knowledge base, starting locally and growing globally.

Mark Virnig has over 20 years of Project Management experience in the areas of Software Development, IT Professional Services and Project Management Consulting.  Currently, Mark is the Director of Products for LMR Solutions, a provider of enterprise project management products and services.  As a Senior Management Consultant, Mark directed the implementation of Enterprise Project Management Solutions based on Microsoft Project Server 2002 and 2003 for several large and medium sized organizations in Southern California.

Mark has also managed a professional services organization in a startup company and served as a Senior Product Manager for enterprise IT products at Peregrine Systems.  As a software engineer and manager at a software development subsidiary of General Electric, Mark served as an internal ISO9002 auditor for software development processes.  Mark earned an Electrical Engineering degree from Purdue University and an MBA from Pepperdine.  He is also a founding member of the Microsoft Project Users Group, San Diego Chapter, and he has served on committees for the San Diego Software Industry Council and the San Diego Product Management Association.

Ken Wolsey is the President of Knowledge System Solutions, Inc (KSS).  For nearly 25 years he has been involved in the development and deployment of advanced expert systems for engineering applications.  Ken is skilled as an engineer and designer having performed structural engineering, process engineering, and plant design in the process power industry.  As a software engineer his specialty is managing applications that use computer-aided design (CAD) and knowledge-based engineering (KBE) technologies.  Ken is the project manager, chief architect and domain expert behind episTree, KSS’ flagship software product for project managers, designers, and engineers.  He currently manages several software development projects for commercial and Department of Defense (DoD) clients.

He has been engaged in small business management for the last 11 years and has performed many duties including executive management, project management, principal investigator on research projects, commercial software product development, business analyst, marketing, and product and services sales.  Ken has worked domestically and internationally on software and engineering projects that have achieved up to 90% gains in engineering productivity.

Ken graduated with a BS degree in Design Engineering Technology from Brigham Young University in 1981.  He subsequently received an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, and has received professional certification from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland.  Ken has been active in many professional organizations including Knowledge Systems Laboratory (KSL) at Stanford University, Project Management Institute (PMI), Corporate Affiliates Program (CAP) at UCSD, and NSRP-ISE for modeling engineering data, where he currently leads an effort to create Electrotechnical data translators for the Shipbuilding Industry.  He is the past national president of the Calma Users Group and the Computervision Users Group in the CAD industry.

John G. Stenbeck, PMP, is the System Support Manager for SelectBuild, Inc., a $700 million construction services company.  John manages a staff of Project Managers and technical professionals throughout California.  Prior to joining SelectBuild John was a Sr. Consultant at Pareto Principals, Inc. where he managed ERP System Implementation projects and authored several PM training programs that were delivered nationally and international in both public and corporate on-site venues.

A partial list of Mr. Stenbeck’s previous clients includes: Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. –  Defense Information Technologies Group, McLean, VA;  Delta Design – a division of COHU International, Poway, CA;  Guinness Bass Import Company, Greenwich, CT;  Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA;  Lucent Technologies, Allentown, PA;  Oracle Corp., Redwood Shores, CA;  Simplex Solutions, Sunnyvale, CA;  U.S. Army – Space and Terrestrial Communications Directorate, Fort Monmouth, NJ;  U.S.D.A. – National Finance Center, New Orleans, LA;  and Visa – Smart Cards, Foster City, CA.  

John is an adjunct professor for the University of California - San Diego (UCSD) and also the recipient of a 2006 Commendation from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for “"Powering the American Dream in the Golden State".

Alexia Polcyn, also known to her friends as Lex, has been a project manager for the past 8 years.  Her experience has been gained by working as an IT Project Manager overseeing software implementations for the warehouse distribution market and most recently the public safety sector.  As a project manager she uses the PMI methodology to lead her teams to successful software implementations.  She has been able to use her skills to teach other team members, business peers and project stakeholders the benefits of using the PMI's methodology to successfully manage and complete projects.  She continues to work with team members to review lessons learned and improve the way she manages projects both professionally and personally.

Lex graduated from San Diego State University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and earned her PMP certificate in September 2004.  She has participated as an active volunteer for the PMI-SD Chapter the last three years.  She enjoys being a project manager and being able to use her skills to creatively manage projects and the people needed to execute the projects.

Lex is a native Californian who has been an active member of the San Diego community for over 20 years.  She is looking forward to serving the PMI-SD Chapter as VP of Programs and being able to bring valuable information to the chapter's membership.

Heather has 12 years of management experience, including software and web applications, corporate sales, and 10 years of project and program management.  Her knowledge areas consist of IT system development, disaster recovery implementation, application support, vendor management, product planning and project management platform implementations.  She is currently the Senior Program Manager for Avery Dennison working for LMR Solutions.  While assigned to Avery, she has been responsible for the implementation of their Global Project Management Platform including the technology, standard methodologies and best practices.  She is responsible for the Avery Dennison system design, deployments, training and team management.  Heather received the Project of the Year Award for outstanding vision and planning for her work on the Avery Dennison Project.  She has also been on multiple inter-company committees responsible for providing employee support, safety standards, and structured company events.  Heather is an involved participant in her community and leads several volunteer networks. 
 
Heather attended Oklahoma State University as a business major and has been a San Diego resident for 10 years.  She has obtained a certification for applied leadership from East Central University, IT Project Mgmt. from ESI International and has received her PMP certification.  Heather is experienced in many software applications and continues to build her knowledge in these areas.  Heather has been the VP of Membership for the past two years and has received several awards and recognitions for her work in this role.  She has successfully grown our volunteer pool by 300%.

Kelly Bronson has ten years of experience in the semiconductor industry providing consulting engineering to Fortune 500 clients across Florida, Arizona, California, Oregon, Virginia, and Vermont.  He has seven years experience providing project and program management services; and the last four years he spent establishing and directing a program management office (PMO) of multi-discipline, cross-functional teams.  Kelly is presently working as a project manager for a wind farm developer, owner, and operator.

Kelly has been active within PMI since 2003, starting at the Vermont chapter and more recently as an Ambassador for the San Diego chapter.  He received his BS in Environmental Studies from Florida Southern College and obtained his PMP certification from PMI in 2004.  More recently Kelly has been contributing content to the PMO body of knowledge.

His expertise and interests include directing a PMO, team building, performance improvement, design & development, sub-contracting & procurement, sustainable energies, strategy & operations, emotional intelligence, and surfing.

Kelly is presently focused on improving the PMI-SD chapter's website and systems.  Through this work and other ventures, Kelly looks forward to contributing to and expanding the San Diego chapter’s established and diverse representation of industries, practice areas, and members.  As members of PMI we all deliver projects on some level; helping to share and grow from these experiences is Kelly’s focus.

Oscar has over 20 years of experience in technology based environments; engineering, software development, management  information systems, information technology, professional services, data communication, configuration management, satellite broadcast systems, wireless communication, network management, telecommunication, e-commerce, real estate development, marketing, and sales.

Oscar has worked in many capacities including as systems engineer, project engineer, project manager, and program manager.  In these capacities, Oscar has managed critical projects through the entire life cycles for fortune 500 companies including Unisys, Lockheed Martin, DirecTV, Hughes, Raytheon, and Computer Associates.  Oscar is a principal business owner and independent consultant practitioner in business start-up, product marketing, and management.  Oscar has a bachelor degree in Electronic Engineering Technology and he has a MBA.

Oscar has numerous other certifications, training, and designations, including receiving his PMP in 2003.  Oscar has been involved with PMI-SD since 2003 and participated in all conferences held.  In fact he was the chair for 2007 conference!  Oscar has a passion in helping people to tap into their professional resources to enhance and enjoy a higher professional life.

Erika holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and a Master of Science degree in Food Science, with an emphasis in Food Microbiology, from the University of Florida.  She is PMP certified as well as MS Project/Project Server Black Belt certified through IIL.  She has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical/drug development industry and project/program management.  In addition, she has expertise in process improvement as well as Project Server/SharePoint implementation.  Erika is a co-owner of Creative Enterprise Solutions, a management consulting and training firm in Phoenix and San Diego.

Erika is passionate about project management has served in numerous volunteer roles within PMI.  She is currently on the Leadership Advisory Council for PMI Phoenix and has served in previous years as the Vice President of External Relations and Director of Volunteer Services.  In 2007, Erika was awarded “Volunteer of the Year” by PMI International.  She also serves on the board of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) in San Diego and is a member of MPA, the Microsoft Project Association.