Monica Lyons, Smc, Pmp Email & Phone Number

Hiawatha, Iowa, United States

• Lead a high-performing team of 10, overseeing their activities in curriculum development, professional development, project management and research & design, ensuring alignment with company goals and objectives• Drive continuous improvement in product offerings by spearheading the development of innovative STEM/PBL curriculum, leveraging industry best practices and educational standards to enhance learning outcomes• Collaborate cross-functionally with sales, marketing, and customer support teams to align product development initiatives with market demand, driving customer acquisition and retention

• Delivered a cutting-edge product to market within an aggressive time frame, overseeing the final 91 days prior to launch. This encompassed refining product requirements, creating and delivering Go-To-Market strategies, cultivating customer relationships to recruit for initial early adopters, and ensuring seamless execution for a successful market entry.• Managed the landmark efficacy study in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Center for Research and Reform in Education• Product Owner for our content platform, a D2L/Brightspace environment, ensuring optimal functionality and exceptional user experience.

• As Product Owner, created and manage three-year vision, roadmap, and backlog of work using Agile methodology• As Scrum Master, successfully managed the 25-member software development team including architecture, Business Analyst (BA), software development, Software Quality Assurance (SQA), and technical writing to ensure 100% of product commitments met the release deadlines• Technical and product expert for key customers with multiple state department of education, customer support escalations, and internal and external partners• Created and facilitated a customer forum with over 400 monthly users to enhance customer engagement, provide professional development, and solicit user feedback on upcoming product enhancements

• Managed the company’s largest and most complex summative assessment contract throughout the entire contract lifecycle; RFP solutioning and response, prospect demonstrations and presentations, contract negotiation, contract delivery and execution into maturity, and contract closure• Led internal cross-functional team to support contract requirements including item development, asset creation for accommodations, test administration, customer support, scoring (human, machine, and intelligent essay assessor), psychometric activities, and on-demand reporting• Prepared and presented internal and external reports on program status, risks, and other program-related issues, including monthly client dashboards, business review presentations, and annual reports detailing work performed, metrics, and outcomes• Served as the primary liaison between the company and multiple state department of education, facilitating communication, collaboration, and alignment of contract requirements related to the PARCC summative assessment

• Point-of-contact to the customer and cross-functional teams for day-to-dayproject execution• Created and maintained accurate project documentation including projectmanagement plan, customer requirements, project schedule, and risk log• Implemented process improvements to meet tight schedule demands,reduce costs, increase quality, and mitigate risk

• Created and implemented strategic plan, assessment process, and metrics to ensure mission-drivenprogramming.• Managed more than 30 annual events including two major lectures serving an audience of more than 250.• Prepared, managed, and monitored annual budget exceeding $300,000.• Developed and published annual report with coordinating materials for distribution to prospective students,current students, partners, donors, and alumni.• Individually advised more than 250 students for career and graduate school preparation.• Tripled the number of students placed in annual summer internships or research opportunities• Maintained relationships with a variety of internal and external constituencies including students, faculty, Admissions Office, Alumni Office, Development Office, Operations Committee, Advisory Board,alumni, community partners and graduate schools.• Lead, managed, and motivated staff of three including one professional and two undergraduate students to exceed the Berry Center programming mission.