Rashad in Conversation

Megan A. Speight, M.S. has worked in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors in Communications, Culture and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. In her current role as Culture, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion(DE&I) Manager at Project Management Institute, Ms. Speight leads and works with cross functional teams to advance PMI’s work in this space. In this role, Ms. Speight promotes a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture, and positions PMI as a growing force in the DE&I space by integrating it into the different components of the organization, profession and global community. Megan is a native of Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, USA, but resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of Springside School, obtained her B.A. in Communications from George Mason University and her M.S. in Public Communication from Drexel University. Ms. Speight has her Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from eCornell and is the first ever recipient of the DEI Champion Award from Women of Project Management. She is Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for Project 440, Chair of their Marketing Advisory Committee, and is a member of the Junior League of Philadelphia. Check the podcast page: www.theprojectedit.com

Sarah Haroon Sualehi is a doctoral student in the Workforce, Adult, and Lifelong Education program at Texas A&M University. She has a master’s degree in International Education from New York University and brings over a decade of work experience in education across cultures and geographies. Sarah also serves as a Graduate Research Assistant at the Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning (TCALL) at Texas A&M University. She uses data and evaluation to improve the services that TCALL provides and co-leads publishing efforts to further develop the field of adult education and literacy.  Sarah’s research interests include transformational learning in nontraditional settings, South Asian, Eastern, and Indigenous epistemologies, and cross-cultural approaches to adult education and digital literacy. Her analytical lens centers concepts such as belonging, justice, and south-south transformation. She has recently been selected as a 2024 Gaines Graduate Scholar in recognition of her hard work.

Hussain Ali MEng CQP MCQI is a Senior Quality Manager with a track record in Construction and across different industries, Hussain is currently working on the Qiddiya Project, a key 2030 vision GIGA projects, in Saudi Arabia. Previously worked on the Super Sewer Project (Tideway) in London, Heathrow Airport, and helped to build two new power stations in South Africa with Eskom. Hussain has actively participated  in different working groups within the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI), focusing on developing specialised training for construction industry quality professionals and helping to develop robust model for the Cost of Quality. He is also a mentor, guiding other Quality Professionals to achieve chartered status with the CQI. His career is rooted in a commitment to elevating the role of a Quality Manager, beyond the current expectations, and driving impactful change within the realm of Quality Management.

Michael is CX* thought leader and creator of the CX Excellence Framework used by organisations around the world.  Michael spent over a decade in the USA working with GE Health on their world-wide Patient Experience programme. He also worked with USA brands such as Harley Davidson, IBM, Microsoft, MBNA, Citibank, FAO Schwartz, American Airlines, Dell, HP and Miller beer. Michael returned to Ireland in 1994 and set up the Dialogue Marketing agency creating award winning campaigns for organisations across many sectors and B2B/B2C Markets. Michael is passionate about CX and in 2014 launched The CX Company, a CX consultancy and Employee Experience (EX) communications and embedding group.   Michael spends much of his time educating organisations about the benefits of CX and founded The CX Academy in 2019 to provide certified online CX learning. The CX Certificate, Diploma and Essential courses are recognised as the global standard for CX certification and today operate in 90+ countries. He speaks and writes passionately about the CX discipline. He has spoken at conferences around the world and shares best practice insights on CX/EX* Excellence delivery helping companies to have greater success with their projects.

Mohammed Diab is Quality Assurance Manager with over 15 years of experience in quality management systems, quality auditing, welding, and non-destructive testing. He has managed large-scale projects of over than 2 billion dollars in value, and teams of about 160 members. He holds numerous certifications, including ASQ CMQ/OE, ASNT NDT Level III, IRCA Principal Auditor QMS ISO 9001:2018, PMP, and more. Throughout his career, Mohammed has been committed to continuous learning and professional development for himself and those around him. Mohammed is a co-author of two books: one being a mindmap companion book for the ASQ Certified Manager of Quality - Organisational Excellence, and the other is Welding Procedure Specification (WPS) & Procedure Qualification Record (PQR) Practical Guide, which has maintained a customer satisfaction quality level above 94% for over five years.

Kevin Newey (CQP, MCQI) - the driving force behind cutting-edge innovation as the Chair of the Greater Peterborough & Cambridge branch and the visionary Global Head of Quality at Graphcore. With Graphcore's groundbreaking Intelligence Processing Unit (IPU) technology, Kevin is part of a team that empowers creators to forge the future of machine intelligence, unlocking untapped human potential. With a remarkable 25-year journey through the realms of high tech, software, semiconductors, biotech, and pharmaceuticals, Kevin is your go-to expert in business transformation, governance, and assurance. He thrives on his passion to harness technology's transformational power, shaping a brighter and more equitable world for all.

Here are the highlights from episodes with my guests in the previous 12 episodes. I have learned a lot, and I hope you did too.

A values-driven Chartered Quality Professional with a proven pedigree in creating, implementing, and managing best-in-class Quality, Health, Safety and Environmental (QHSE) management systems. A leader in governance and compliance who can coach, mentor, and empower the workforce to create a collaborative culture built on engagement that demonstrates excellence in risk management and sustainable business practice. Susan Samaroo CQI MCQP is the Group Quality Manager at Precision NDT LLC. She is the Vice Chair of the Caribbean Branch supporting Quality Professionals with the Chartered Quality Institiute, volunteers with the Gloucester Branch, and the Digital Transformation special interest group. You can connect with Susan on LinkedIn

Dr. Neda Maria Kaizumi has recently graduated from Harvard Business School in Data science & Business analytics program. She works as VP Business Excellence and analytics in FREYR Battery and is a project member of writing new standard for artificial intelligence ethics & security together with International standard organization. She is enthusiastic, energetic, result oriented and digital forerunner with extensive International experience in strategic planning and leading global teams in multinational organizations and especially in Energy sector, renewable and clean battery. She is also experienced in operational development and organizational structure, Technology, AI, machine learning & Deep Learning. She speaks at various conferences & is an author. Neda is affiliated with the standards body of Norway: Norsk Sertifisering You can connect with Nada on LinkedIn

Erik K. Rueter, PMP, PMI-ACP (he/him), founder and President of Human-Centered Success LLC, has over 20 years of professional experience across diverse industries. He has worked for tech start-ups, colleges and universities, a Grammy®-award-winning production company, and healthcare organizations. He has been a public policy analyst, marketing and public relations director, and now a senior project manager at the American Marketing Association.  He has co-authored two papers on health inequity in oncology nursing and contributed to the book Mastering Solution Delivery. He has lectured at various colleges and organizations ranging from Medtronic to the San Antonio Spurs. He recently founded Human-Centered Solutions LLC, a consulting organization focused on creating more inclusive spaces through servant leadership.  He holds a BA in neuroscience from Wesleyan University, MicroMasters in Design Thinking and Project Management through the Rochester Institute of Technology, and certification in diversity and inclusion from Cornell.  If you enjoyed this episode, please hit subscribe, so you get all recent conversations with professionals from around the world working with Quality.