Melina Kline has more than 27 years of experience leading large, complex, strategic project, and program initiatives in not-for-profit, telecommunications, manufacturing, and sales organizations in the United States, China, Africa, and France. She is a program delivery professional who guides teams through major transformation efforts, combining project management best practices with Organizational Change Management (OCM) principles to create lasting change.

Melina’s background features a strong emphasis on project/program delivery, stakeholder management, communication, continuous improvement, team dynamics and leadership, and careful change management. She has served as a technology liaison between IT and business stakeholders; served as a PMO leader; and developed strategic plans for a PMO’s digital transformation. Melina is also formally trained in Diversity and Inclusion best practices and has served on corporate diversity boards and consulted on diversity initiatives.

ORGANIZATIONAL EXPERIENCE:

• Navistar
• OfficeMax
• AT&T
• Alcatel/Lucent/Nokia
• Centel/Alltel
• Sprint
• Tellabs

EXPERTISE:

• Project and Program Management
• Stakeholder Management
• Organizational Change Management
• Governance Best Practices
• Team Dynamics and Leadership
• Budgeting and Financial Management
• Capacity Planning and Resource Management
• Vendor Management

SAMPLE PROJECTS:

A recent Navistar joint venture saw Melina deliver a complex IT initiative launching a new vehicle manufactured in the Springfield, OH plant. Melina led IT process improvement efforts to bring more streamlined and ergonomic processes to the assembly line, and developed detailed program plans to ensure contractual alignment and compliance with governmental regulatory requirements between the joint venture partners. Integrating foundational Organizational Change Management (OCM) principles into the program, Melina created a “Team of Champions” who were key stakeholders in ongoing process improvement initiatives. She also created a piloting methodology to engage stakeholders in user training and deployment strategies, ensuring that business voices were well represented and visible throughout.

Melina managed the entire program and project lifecycles from planning to closeout, guiding a team of Project Managers who completed ten large projects comprised of over 40 applications and interfaces, delivering them on time and within budget.

When a Navistar division’s ability to bid on critical Federal Government programs was at risk, Melina led a project to create IT requirements for the multiple vendor packages that would guarantee the continued opportunity for contract bidding. She worked closely with department leadership and internal Federal Government liaisons to ensure technological solutions supported both Off-the-Shelf product deployment and the specialized customizations needed to fully meet government requirements. Melina wore many hats on this project, including Business Analyst, Project Manager, and OCM lead.

EDUCATION:

Melina has a graduate degree Business Administration (MBA) from Benedictine University, and an undergraduate degree in Management Information Systems from the Illinois Institute of Technology. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), a member of PMI, and a Certified Scrum Master and member of the Scrum Alliance. Melina also holds a certification in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University.