Ms. Harrison is an experienced Marketing and Project Manager with an MBA from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a concentration in Information Systems and Marketing. She has led Business Process Reengineering efforts for both existing and new products and processes and has been involved in all aspects of the systems development life-cycle, particularly business requirements development. She has a passion for roles where she can be the bridge between business and technology, ensuring that business needs are reflected in resulting software through comprehensive requirements gathering, business process analysis, and user acceptance testing.
Ms. Harrison received her PMP certification in 2006.
10/2008 - present Harrison Consulting International
Project Manager and Consultant
- Led global team completing Agile web/interactive projects ranging in size from 250 to 3000 hours that leveraged Drupal, Joomla, LAMP (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP) and other web 2.0 technologies.
- Aided in client relations and business development, drawing in a half dozen new clients in a variety of targeted industries, including education, non-profit, agriculture and software development.
- Served as lead project manager for knowledge management system that enabled professors to create, manage, maintain and search their curriculum vitae at a prestigious educational institution. The system also enabled administration to use the data in annual performance reviews, while selectively publishing this information for viewing by the public.
- Utilized project management methodologies, tools and techniques to effectively translate business needs in to specifications for engineers on the technical side, while articulating strengths and limitations to sponsors and stakeholders on the business side.
2006 - 2007 - Created and employed unique business-based language instruction for high-ranking executives and CEOs, including the Speaker of Parliament and the staff of the Bureau for Business Innovation (OIE) in Andorra La Vella. Taught business principles while advancing clients' English skills. These engagements resulted in Ms. Harrison being hired as a Business Consultant and eventual employee for the Prime Minister Albert Pintat's economic development initiative under the OIE.
1994 - 1996 - Trained international Fullbright scholars and World Bank executives in effective use of Internet technologies via lectures on behalf of the International Research Exchange Board (IREX) and the U.S. Information Agency. Developed curriculum, defined learning objectives and authored detailed lessons for each lecture. Lectured in English with Russian language Q&A.
2/2007 - 7/2008 Government of Andorra Andorra la Vella, Andorra
Project Manager: Bureau for Business Innovation
- Provided project and marketing management expertise for several initiatives for the Bureau for Business Innovation, helping to diversify the Andorran economy, promote investment, and increase economic growth in Andorra.
- Served as Project Manager for the The Future of Europe Summit requiring selection and oversight of several external contractors and their sub-contractors spanning five countries and utilizing three languages with a budget of €650,000.
- Responsible for retaining major sponsors contributing over €250,000 of funding as well as signing as knowledge partner key strategic educational institutions, such as ESADE Business School, Barcelona.
- Led communications efforts, reporting project status to key players, including government officials, CEOs, and other stakeholders via telephone, email, periodic newsletters and both formal and informal meetings and events. Responsible for oversight of web site, marketing materials, final report and press communications as well as vendor selection and relations for production of these deliverables. Attended official EU events in Brussels to promote the Summit.
- Chief liaison for day-to-day affairs with the Summit producer, an accomplished firm with a high profile, globally renowned leader. The situation often required delicate communications that balanced pushback, incentivization, creative team building and alliance repair. Brought in to a tense vendor-client relationship, we were able to form a successful, working team and lasting relationships.
3/2003 - 12/2005 Intrev, Inc. Washington, DC
Consultant: Software Development & Web Marketing
- Composed and executed test scripts for web-based online Credit Applications for the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
- Composed business requirements, via stakeholder interviews and process analysis, for the Working Capital Guarantee Program, a web-based system for accepting and managing the business applications for Working Capital Guarantees of the Export-Import Bank.
- Prepared marketing material for online web-based translation software.
12/2000 - 3/2003 Equant Communications Paris, France
Project Manager: Billing Systems Development
- Successfully led collection and communication of business requirements for multiple software projects in the Global Billing Department. Conducted business in Paris, Dublin, Reston and Amsterdam.
- Responsible for design and execution of a data conversion and cleaning project for the Global Billing department, saving the firm several hundred man-hours.
- Led deployment and testing efforts for a global billing system that improved headquarters visibility into regional billing worldwide.
9/1997 - 12/2000 Global One / Equant Communications Reston, VA
Program Manager: Process Management
- Led a Service Delivery group in the Global Services Implementation (GSI) division of Global One. Global One was an international subsidiary of France Telecom and later merged with Equant Communications.
- Managed a staff of 9 responsible for developing procedures to ensure cost-effective, quality delivery for newly-launched products and services. Received several promotions.
- Spearheaded creation of the Web Order Tool, an effort from the Provisioning department to improve international service order placement and implementation. Held several large JAD sessions and numerous smaller interviews to create a comprehensive requirements document, drafted RFPs, and conducted competitive vendor selections.
- Created intra-company website to allow FTP download of technical order forms globally allowing remote offices, for the first time, to have real-time access to accurate and uniform product order forms thereby decreasing implementation time and rework and increasing customer satisfaction.
Additional areas of responsibility:
- Intra-company agreements for new product service delivery, including drafting of SLAs
- Inter-company service delivery agreements
- Service delivery process development for new data and IP products
- Streamlining global service delivery procedures
- Products included: X.25, Frame Relay, ATM, CPE, Internet VPN, Internet Dial Access, Secure ID Tokens, Firewall, Web Hosting, and Voice Over IP.
5/1996 - 9/1997 Andersen Consulting Tysons Corner, VA
Business Technology Analyst: Iridium
- Product Test TeamDeveloped the service provider portion of the product test plan. Duties included drafting detailed test conditions and formulating test scripts from client requirements and from the details of system user and technical designs.
- Service Provider Solution Development TeamPart of a team that delivered the general and detailed design for Iridium's service provider business system. Responsibilities included creating the application GUI layer using a Java-based screen painter and coding presentation and business object layer functionality in Java. Process and window flows were created in Visio Technical 4.1.
9/1994 - 5/1996 University of Maryland, MBA Program College Park, MD
Fellowship with the University of Maryland included tuition and other compensation. Also completed a number of relevant projects for local business as part of her studies. Accomplishments included:
- Web Designer: Cheesecake Factory Electronic Commerce: February - June 1996Worked with the client’s Director of MIS to lead a team of three. The team designed and implemented a prototype electronic commerce world wide web site for this publicly owned restaurant chain. The team composed a marketing plan for the web site detailing immediate and long-term goals. Each area of the web site was tied to one or more business objectives. The final site contained an interactive restaurant menu including some product photos; a restaurant locator including drill-down and detailed maps, directions and phone numbers; share holder information; and an on-line ordering system designed to complement the current phone-based mail order Cheesecake business. Was asked by the director of MIS to create the company's permanent website.
- Membership Manager: The Maryland Center for Quality: August 1995 - July 1996Coordinated membership program for The Maryland Center for Quality and Productivity. Redefined the membership value proposition and created promotional materials to illustrate the value of Center membership. Materials included membership recruitment letters, flyers, and packets, a new member benefits package, and a monthly newsletter to enhance member relations. Organized and promoted quarterly meetings resulting in increased meeting attendance. Led workshop groups on customer value assessment and improvement as part of Center-sponsored Customer Value workshops.
- Business Process Consultant: U.S. Postal Service: August - December 1995Part of a team that delivered an assessment of a U.S.P.S. proposal to streamline the employee travel process using smart card technology.
Summer 1995 Bell Atlantic Small Business Systems Arlington, VA
New Product Development Analyst
- Developed internet-related product assessments for the V.P. of New Product Development. Created a framework for analysis of a web site to improve business value. Produced technical briefs for senior management (VP and President) for internal communications and public relations purposes.
5/1991 - 10/1994 RMS Associates Linthicum, MD
NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program Analyst
- Proposed and conducted analysis of international documents exchange program resulting in recommended elimination of unproductive exchanges valued at $148,000 per year.
- Marketed database and Internet products at domestic and foreign trade shows; Delivered new product review at National Online '93; Promoted STI Program services: authored trade journal publicity pieces and delivered professional talks.
- Served on TQM process action team for invoice/billing systems quality improvement; Twice received Director's TQM Award: (1) analysis work; (2) exhibits team.
- Assisted in developing systems requirements for exchange process automation.
- Completed baseline of program costs and processes.
- Developed database content for international STI document exchange program; extensive online searching.
- Assisted in document exchange negotiations with officials from Japan, France, The European Community, Greece and Russia. Presentations given in Moscow (in Russian) and Athens.
- Performed human and machine translations. Authored background analysis paper on machine translations.
- Managed Foreign Documents Exchange.
5/1990 - 5/1991 AIAA New York, NY
Bilingual Technical Abstractor
- Composed English abstracts from Russian and English aerospace documents for the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics. Work published in monthly NASA Aerospace journal.
Summer '85, '86 Grumann Aerospace Corp. Long Island, NY
Intern
2006 Project Management Institute
- Certification: Project Management Professional
1994 - 1996 Smith School of Business College Park, MD
- M.B.A. Information Systems & Marketing
1991 - 1993 University of Maryland, Baltimore County Catonsville, MD
- Computer Science Classes
- Management Classes
1989 - 1990 Indiana University Bloomington, IN
- M.A. Russian Area Studies
- Research Assistant, Russian East European Institute
- MacArthur International Security Fellowship
- Graduated with Honors
Summer '87, '88 Middlebury College Middlebury, VT
- Russian language total immersion program
1984 - 1988 Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA
- B.A. International Relations
- B.A. Russian
Proficient: Microsoft Office Suite, iWork, MS Project, OmniPlan, Visio, HTML
Familiar: MS Access, Cold Fusion
Basic Skills: Visual Basic, ASP, Drupal, Joomla
Fluent: English
Proficient: French, Russian, Catalan
Basic Skills: German, Spanish
Hiking, Languages & Travel, Adult ESOL Instruction, Running, Kayaking, Biking
Selected accomplishments to date:
- Taught English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Teaching Methodologies for adults. Tutored 9 ESOL students, led 10 multinational adult ESOL classes. European English coach for CEOs of international banks and also a leading member of the national Parliament.
- Lived in three foreign locations for a total of 8.5 years and have traveled to over 40 countries on 6 continents
- UNICEF Volunteer, Andorra la Vella, Andorra; Caritas volunteer, Paris, France
laurie@sleekbrain.com
Willing to travel nationally/internationally for business