Page 1 | Betsy Vernon
Betsy Vernon, PfMP, PMP, CPC
(m- |-Greater Nashville, Tennessee Area
https://www.linkedin.com/in/betsy-vernon
Project and Portfolio Management Executive
Project Portfolio Management (PPM) | Project Management (PMO) | Strategic Planning
I am a seasoned executive with 20 years of experience managing project portfolios in excess of $1B. I have
established PPM and PMO organizations, defined methodologies and frameworks to meet the specific needs
of organizations and lead teams in both strategic and tactical execution. I have deep experience in working
with teams who are adverse to process to deploy creditable standards which enable governance. I am by
experience and credentials a PMBOK student, but in practice am able to adapt key principles across a wide
variety of methods, including: AGILE, Lean Principles, Waterfall and Kaizen. I am also a Certified
Professional Coach, and am highly competent in leading teams, driving change and operating with a highlevel of Executive Presence.
CORE COMPETENCIES
Annual Planning and Budgeting • Portfolio Management and Governance • Project Management • Product
Management • Organizational Design • Change Management • Resource Planning • Talent Management •
Vendor Management • Coaching
NOTABLE HIGHLIGHTS
LKQ
● Developed and deployed Portfolio Management concepts to enable demand management to an
organization which was “frozen” from further growth, due to an inability to articulate demand
and capacity.
● Developed use of Smartsheet tools to drive standards in project planning and collaborative
execution
● Developed Intake and Demand processes in Service Now platform to leverage existing
investment in support of PPM objectives
Asurion
● Developed Annual Operating Plan (AOP) planning process to drive top-down investment
strategy, in support of key strategic initiatives. This process was institutionalized throughout
the enterprise and us utilized today.
● Developed, deployed, and managed Project Portfolio Management standards, including Intake,
Project Scoring Models, Estimation and Project investment decision processes.
● Lead business adoption of AGILE development model
● Lead business adoption of Kaizen development model
Covad/Megapath
● Delivered 120 of targeted portfolio projects to complete merger activity. Total annual realized
savings were in excess of $160M.
● Designed and Led Executive Oversight standards including: Annual Project Budgeting, Weekly
Portfolio Reviews , New Product Introduction Gating processes , Prioritization scoring models
and prioritization reviews , Project Roadmap templates and sequencing communications
● Optimized IT delivery model to support repositioning of financials in support of Merger
activities.
RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Just B. Consulting
April 2017-Present
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Founder, Consultant and Project Quarterback
● Provider of Project Management consulting services to enable a financially rewarding and
fulfilling experience when delivering projects, for both our consultants and our business partners
● Career Coach, focused on helping clients achieve career fulfillment through finding personally
challenging and rewarding opportunities, based on their skills and dreams
LKQ, Nashville, TN
March 2018– June 2019
Director, PMO
● Ensure 100% of the IT development teams are working on the most important priorities for the
business, through establishing Portfolio Management framework
● Establish project management standards of practice to drive high-quality project delivery
● Position a high performing team to drive execution of project portfolios, on time and on budget
and provide a one-stop shop for the business to leverage their IT resources in the most optimal
way
● Deliver resource-management framework to direct resources to support maintenance,
continuous improvement and project activities
● Maximize resource investment through delivery of prioritization processes
Beans Baby Services, Nashville, TN
March 2015– June 2018 (Sold)
Owner
● Launched Nashville’s leading baby equipment rental business, catering to traveling parents with
small children
● Developed Shopify website for both desktop and mobile ordering
● Developed sales and marketing model with AirBNB and Local hotels for exclusivity in providing
baby equipment to customers traveling with small children
Asurion
March 2011-March 2017
Sr. Director, Product Portfolio Management and Delivery
● Maximize ROI for $600M Technology Project Development budget through managing
investment priorities and driving selection of high-value opportunities
● Develop and manage planning processes for enterprise business teams, to enable product growth
● Develop and manage portfolio investment strategy including targeting investment levels to
support new growth and continued investment for sustaining in-market products
● Drive global alignment to prioritization and planning processes to ensure a common system
exists across all regions to identify and drive priorities across Product, Operations, Sales and
Technology
● Manage market delivery of prioritized product initiatives to key clients through PMBOK
● Develop strategy to support delivery of Minimally Viable Product (MVP) to the market quickly
to enable lean development practices and product evolution
Director, Product Management- Whole Home
● Product Lifecycle management and P&L responsibility for all In-Market programs
● Primary client interface for Product organization for In-Market programs
● Manage implementation efforts for all new programs, including internal cross-functional and
client facing task execution to meet launch dates and budget
● Provide oversight and direction for prioritization of strategic product roadmap at the corporate
level to support resource planning and optimization
Megapath/Covad
May 2000-March 2011
Director, M&A Integration
● Drive integration efforts for 3-way company merger (Covad/Speakeasy/Megapath)
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Responsible for building long-term operating plans with all areas of the business to provide clear
direction on go-forward process, organization design and budget for new business entity
Implemented cross functional team approach to project management, to drive cross functional
communication and relationship building for 3-way company merger
Primary interface for business owner issue resolution for all integration projects
Provide direction, leadership and serve as primary point person for 22 large cross functional
projects, resulting in annualized savings of over $150M
Director, PMO and Operations Support
● Direct cross-functional project management, including resource and capacity evaluation,
business benefit evaluation, business case creation and lead project teams to meet commitments
on time and on budget
● Deliver new products and services to the Wholesale market
● Lead key commercial strategies to enable Wholesale market growth, through dotted-line
reporting to the CEO
● Lead Executive Oversight Group, a bi-weekly meeting of the Senior Leadership Team, to review
business cases, provide project approval and prioritize all corporate initiatives.
● Developed and Implemented Stage Gate process
● Manage software prioritization, resulting in capitol savings of over $2M annually
● Executed outsourcing strategy to support operational processes, including call center and backoffice operation processing, realizing a cost savings of 70%
● Developed and managed vendor quality programs for all operational departments
● Recognized unit cost reduction for VoIP Operations by 20% over a 2 quarter period, through
collaboration with the Senior Management team on outsourcing strategy
EDUCATION
Harvard University | English Literature-
CERTIFICATIONS
Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP) • Certified Professional Coach (CPC) • Certified Scrum
Master (CSM) • Professional in Project Management (PMP)
ADDITIONAL TRAINING AND ACCOLADES
Executive Leadership Development and Coaching • Crucial Conversations
