The leadership of our Chapter is elected annually, running from January 1st thru December 31st of each year. The Board is comprised of the Past President, President, President-Elect, and all the Vice Presidents reporting to the President. Depending on the area, each Vice President may have Directors and those Directors may have Project Managers and/or Team Members.
Marcia Nelson, President
Marcia is a Project Manager at PGBA, LLC - a subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina - where she is responsible for the successful implementation of software development projects for the TRICARE Government Healthcare contracts.Prior to embarking upon a career in Project Management, Marcia served as a Contract Manager in the TRICARE division at PGBA, LLC, where she was responsible for administration of contract modifications, contractual oversight and external reporting for change order implementation; development / negotiation of cost proposals and supervision of contract analyst staff.
Marcia joined PMI and the Midlands Chapter in 2007 and has volunteered with the Board of Directors since 2012. She served briefly as Director of Corporate Relations in 2012; as Director of PDD13 and most recently as the VP of Professional Development and Programs. Passionate about PM and the potential inherent in the Midlands Chapter; strong desire to see growth for the Midlands Chapter; inspired by the dedicated volunteers that continue to support the Chapter.
Scott Davis, President-Elect
Scott Davis is a certified PMP, ScrumMaster, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (Pyzdek Institute), and Business Process Management Professional (BPM Institute). He is the Senior Business Process Analyst for the eCommerce section at Belk Department stores and before that he was a logistics officer and planner both in the Army (retired in 2011) and more recently for Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) in Afghanistan working with the Joint Program Office for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.
David Helps, Vice President of Education
David R. Helps Jr. is currently a Project Manager with the South Carolina Department of Education. David has over 18 years of Government Sector experience with over 15 years in IT and Project Management. David grew up in Columbia and is a graduate of both the College of Charleston and the University of South Carolina. David joined PMI SC Midlands and earned his PMP in 2010. Over his career, he has gone from a COBOL programmer and a Web developer to a Business Analyst and a then a Project Manager. David is currently focusing on growth and expansion of the PMO and has overseen several projects in infrastructure modernization and program area workflow management.
Edmond Melkomian, Vice President of Finance
Edmond is the vice president of finance, responsible for maintaining and presenting all financial records required for chapter operation. Edmond currently works as the manager of application development at Palmetto GBA. He grew up in New York city and San Francisco bay area, with a masters degree in Computer Science, a certificate in project management from UC Berkeley and PMP certification in 1999. He has worked in the past for such large corporations as IBM, Williams Sonoma and on Wall street for Shearson Lehman/American Express.
Open, Vice President of Marketing and Vice President of Communications
These positions are currently open, and will be filled during the next election cycle.
Barbara Gelberd, Vice President of Membership
Barbara Gelberd is currently a Project Management Consultant for LongView International, Inc., an IT government contracting agency based in Reston, Virginia. The Veterans Administration’s Office of Information Technolocy, Service Delivery, Program Administration Office has beenBarbara’s client for the past 6 years . Barbara’s background is in Healthcare Operations, not information technology and she has held leadership positions in both provider and managed care organizations, as well as disease management organiztions supported by technology. She holds a BA from Furman University, an MSW from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Master in Public Management from Carnegie Mellon University. Barbara’s career mission has been to help organizations get the most value out of technology to support service delivery objectives – Project Management is an important tool in that meeting that goal.
Brenda Alls, Vice President of Programs
Brenda Alls is currently working with BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina where she’s a Technical Team Lead for PGBA Systems for the last 4 years, with 20 years of IT experience. Brenda became a member of PMI Midlands Chapter in 2014. She started as a volunteer with the Programs and Professional Development team. As the Director of Programs, she standardized planning process for educational events such as the Monthly Lunch-n-Learns, Dinner-n-Learns, and implemented Quarterly events for the Midlands Chapter of PMI. Brenda was recently elected to the position of VP of Programs and Professional Development. As the VP of Programs, she is responsible for all aspects of the Midlands Chapter’s events, including the annual Professional Development Day (PDD). Brenda received an Associate’s Degree in Computer Science from Florence Darlington Technical College in 1993. She is also a licensed Realtor.