(Speaker Update) PMI Houston Energy Corridor: "Adding Change Management into Your Project Management Toolbox"
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.
Topic Synopsis:
Leadership is not just a position; it’s a set of principles that, when practiced consistently, elevate your impact and effectiveness as a Project Manager and leader.
In this dynamic session, led by a Certified Coach, Speaker, and one of LinkedIn’s Top Project Management Creators, you’ll discover 4 powerful and timeless laws of leadership.
Each law will be unpacked in a way that is relatable to the Project Management world. Through interactive exercises and practical insights, you'll walk away with tools to grow yourself as a leader and elevate your impact, not only in the projects you lead or support, but also with the people who make those projects possible.
“People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.”
— John C. Maxwell
Learning Objectives:
This session will highlight:
- Discover 4 timeless leadership principles to elevate your ability to lead
- Understand how these laws apply directly to the Project Management world
- Gain practical insights to apply each law in your current role and to grow as a high-impact leader
PDU Triangle:
1.0 Power Skills PDU
Dinner Presentation: Adding Change Management into Your Project Management Toolbox
Following a 15-year career as a dedicated information technology professional across diverse industries and organizations — ranging from small, non-profits to Fortune 10 companies — Kevin Miller discovered his true calling. Throughout his career, Kevin observed a recurring pattern of inefficient spending and dissatisfied customers who lacked confidence in their IT department’s ability to deliver timely and helpful solutions. Kevin developed a deep understanding and empathy for these internal customers — departments seeking to use technology to enhance efficiency and effectiveness for the business.
Kevin held a firm belief: IT departments rarely engaged in meaningful collaboration with the businesses they served. Recognizing the need for change, he embarked on a mission, and in 2015 founded Delta Technology. Kevin championed a different approach to IT — one that empowered the business to lead technological efforts, provided timely insights and tools, and navigated conflicting priorities by offering relevant information for informed decision-making.
And here’s the remarkable twist: Chaos gave way to success. Gone were the days of treating IT as a mysterious black hole for requests, where critical initiatives were perpetually deferred to a vague “phase two.” As a result, customers began to rebuild trust in their IT departments, leading to a surge in new requests, resulting in tangible business value.
Topic Synopsis:
Attendees will learn how project management and change management serve distinct but complementary roles in driving business results. The presentation will explore how structured change management increases stakeholder engagement, accelerates adoption, and mitigates resistance. Participants will also gain insight into common sources of resistance and learn practical strategies to address them proactively.
Whether you're leading process improvements, technology implementations, or organizational transformations, this session will help you strengthen your project outcomes by equipping you with essential change leadership techniques
Learning Objectives:
1. Ask the right questions to better understand the human side of change.
2. Create an effective change management path.
3. Learn how project management and change management serve distinct but complementary roles in driving business results.
PDU Triangle:
1.0 Business Acumen PDU
Event Information
| Event Date | 01-15-2026 5:00 pm |
| Event End Date | 01-15-2026 8:00 pm |
| Cut Off Date | 01-15-2026 8:00 pm |
| Capacity | 40 |
| Registered | 19 |
| Individual Price | $30 Members / $40 Guests |
| Location | Omega 365 USA Inc. |
Speakers
Gabriela Gutierrez
Gabriela Gutierrez is a global leader with over a decade of experience across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Latin America. She was recently recognized as the #12 Female Project Management Creator on LinkedIn Worldwide. She blends her expertise in Project Management, Leadership, and Mentorship with rich experiences from living, studying, and working in 7 cities across 4 countries. Gabriela is a certified Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with Maxwell Leadership, the world’s #1 leadership development organization, founded by best-selling author John C. Maxwell. She holds an MBA, along with top industry credentials including the PMP®, and Prosci ® Change Management Certification. Known in the corporate world, on LinkedIn, and in her community for her engaging and uplifting presence, Gabriela delivers inspiring, actionable insights that professionals can immediately apply to grow their influence and impact.
Walter A. Viali, PMP
Walter 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.