Pre-Dinner Presentation: 4 Laws of Leadership for Project Management and Beyond

Gabriela Gutierrez is a global leader with over a decade of experience across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Latin America. In 2025, she was recognized as the #8 Project Management Creator on LinkedIn in the United States.

She holds an MBA from a European business school, along with top industry credentials including the Project Management Professional (PMP®), Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, and Prosci® Change Management certifications. Gabriela is also a certified Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with Maxwell Leadership, founded by best-selling author John C. Maxwell.

Blending her expertise in Project Management, Leadership, and Mentorship with rich experiences from living, studying, and working in 7 cities across 4 countries, Gabriela brings a global perspective to her work. She currently serves in the Project Management Office of a major student transportation company in the U.S. and is a sought-after speaker and trainer for corporations and professional associations, including PMI Chapters.

Known in the corporate world, on LinkedIn, and in her community for her engaging and uplifting presence, Gabriela delivers inspiring, actionable insights that professionals and leaders like you can immediately apply to grow your influence and impact.

1.0 Power Skills PDU

    

Dinner Presentation: RMS Titanic - Could Project Management Have Helped? (Technical PM)

Walter A. Viali, PMP is a Project Management and Project Management Office (PMO) Management Consultant, Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with a varied background in different industries, which has included several domestic and international assignments. He is the co-author of the book titled “Accelerating Change with Organizational Project Management: The New Paradigm for Change”, published at the end of 2013. Walter was a Certified Software Quality Analyst (CSQA) for many years and has extensive knowledge and experience in Strategic Business Planning, Business Reengineering, Information Systems Planning, Portfolio Management, Process and Project Management, Project Management Office (PMO) implementation and Joint Application Development (JAD) session leading (approximately 5,000 hours of facilitation in the U.S., Europe and Asia in all phases of planning, application development, process redesign and problem solving). He has significant experience in Process and Project Management assessments based on the Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model (SEI CMM) and PMI’s Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3). Walter is also a project management and business analysis instructor for the University of Houston system. He has been quoted in several trade journals and books over the years and has published articles on Business Reengineering and Information Technology issues. Walter has made numerous presentations on Strategic Planning, Application Development strategies and Business Reengineering at several conferences, seminars, colleges and universities from 1987 up to the present. He has also delivered several presentations on Project Management topics to numerous PMI Chapters in North and Central America, Asia, and Europe, as well as at the PMI North American Congresses in Houston and Anaheim. Walter was a member of the PMI team that authored the first release of the PMI OPM3 assessment standard. He was on the Board of the PMI Houston Chapter from 2002 until 2008 and its President in 2007. He was also on the Board of the PMI Clear Lake-Galveston Chapter in 2009-2010 and once again from 2014 to 2021, as PMIEF Chapter Liaison and as VP of Professional Development. For almost 5 years, Walter was the Region Mentor for PMI’s Region 6 (23 PMI Chapters plus 3 Chapters in formation, and 24,000 PMI members in the South Central U.S.). As part of PMI’s Chapter Quality Assurance program, Walter was responsible for several years for the quality review process of project management training programs offered by PMI Chapters worldwide. He was President of the PMI Houston Chapter once again 2023.

PDU Triangle:

1.0 Power Skills PDU