Vanina Mangano PMP, PMI-RMP, PMI-SP, ITIL, Project+, is a subject matter expert in project management, risk management, and strategic management. Over the past ten years, Vanina has worked with several global technology companies as a senior contributor and leader and is currently overseeing a project management office (PMO) at Microsoft. As part of her contributions to the community, Vanina volunteers through PMI, currently serving as a core committee member of the PMBOK Guide, 5th edition update project. Vanina holds a dual bachelors degree from the University of California, Riverside, is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP), PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP), and CompTIA Project+. She is the author of the PMP: Project Management Professional Exam Review Guide, PMI Risk Management Professional Exam Study Guide, and other project management related books and articles.

Al Smith, Jr. PMI-ACP, Lean/6 Sigma Black Belt, CRISC, SCJP, CFT. In addition to being an instructor, Al is a highly experienced IT professional with REAL WORLD experience developing and supporting successful projects for companies such as a GE Healthcare as a Sr. SOA Engineer, Costco Wholesale as an Enterprise Architect consultant, IBM Global as an Implementation Consultant, CalAmp as a Director of Engineering and providing Java/JEE consulting for the Office of Naval Research, SPAWAR and General Dynamics. He is consistently recognized for using Lean, Agile and Six Sigma to improve IT organizations effectiveness and efficiency. Having served in the US Army, Al is comfortable with being a compassionate leader while maintaining uncompromising standards of performance. By leveraging skills as an Agile/Lean/Six Sigma Black Belt he has the experience necessary to execute on value-driven initiatives while driving quality, optimizing value streams and mentoring high performance teams to increase the bottom line.