About the author

Dawn Mahan

Dawn Mahan is the founder of PMOtraining, LLC. She is a dynamic international speaker, a Project Management Institute (PMI) certified leader with extensive global experience, and sole inventor of the ProjectFlo® Process Learning System that makes learning PMI's complex process fast, easy, and fun. She works with C-level leaders, business owners in growth mode, Project Management Office (PMO) leaders, and project managers at all levels. Her work in preparing young professionals in the YearUp program for internships at major companies has been featured in Morningstar, Yahoo! Finance and more.<br>​​​​​​​<br>Dawn started her writing career in high school when she became a published poet and won the English award at graduation. Then, the practicalities of life took over and she found herself pursuing degrees and work in STEM fields. In the early 2000s she finally got back to writing when she collaborated with colleagues on a blog they named PMthink! Project Management Thought Leadership, and, as she was the only female in the troupe, she assumed the Austin Powers-esque moniker, FemPM.<br>​​​​​​​<br>In 2009, she left the Fortune 50 and started her own firm. In 2014, she was awarded Professional of the Year Consulting/Project Management by Strathmore Who’s Who Worldwide. In 2021, she was hired by Udemy as their project management expert to co-create Smart Tips: Project Management &amp; Agile for their business and marketplace platforms. She has trained thousands of ambitious professionals around the world.<br>​​​​​​​<br>Dawn has built houses in Cambodia with Habitat for Humanity, has played a variety of roles on the American Lung Association’s Philadelphia Leadership Board, and sponsors a girls flag football team in Florida.<br>​​​​​​​<br>When she’s not in Projectland, you can most often find her with family in Hawaii, Pennsylvania, or the Florida Keys.<br>