PMI’s purpose is to “maximize project success to elevate our world”; our Social Impact Programs are a demonstration of that!
Interview with Dr. Ashley Forsyth, PMP
Director of Social Impact Programs,
Project Management Institute (PMI), USA
Interviewed by Yasmina Khelifi
International Correspondent, PM World Journal
Paris, France
Introduction to the interviewee
Ashley is the Director of Social Impact Programs, serving as the Executive Director of the PMI Educational Foundation (PMIEF) and Project Managers Without Borders (PMWB) – charitable supporting organizations to PMI. While each organization has a different mission, at the core, this is the intersection of project management and social impact to accelerate social good in the world.
She has been in the Director role for the past five years, prior to this role, she served for seven years as an Academic Programs Specialist at PMI, helping to connect college and university students with PMI through membership, certification, and the academic sponsored research grant program. Prior to PMI, Ashley spent more than ten years working in higher education, her last role as a Dean of Students at a private college in Philadelphia, PA, USA. She holds a doctorate in Higher Education, specializing in curriculum development. She achieved her PMP in 2025. Ashley lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA with her husband, son, and elderly cat.
Interview
Q1: How did you come to work at the Project Management Institute (PMI)?
Ashley Forsyth (Forsyth): I was completing my doctorate in higher education and moving from student affairs to curriculum development. PMI was launching the undergraduate curriculum project to work with colleges and universities around the world to implement project management into their programs – either as degrees, majors, minors, or concentrations. This was part of a broader strategy to engage not just faculty, but the students studying project management. After a few years of working with higher education institutions around the world, I joined PMI’s sponsored research program, which awards grants to doctoral students or faculty conducting groundbreaking research in project management.
When the role at PMI Educational Foundation (PMIEF) opened, it was a natural fit. I used my curriculum skills to implement project management in secondary education through youth-serving nonprofits serving up to age 24, and I helped award our grants and endowed scholarships. Project Managers Without Borders (PMWB) became part of the PMI family in 2024 and provides a holistic portfolio of how PMI creates positive social impact.
Q2: As the director of social impact programs, can you elaborate on the projects in your portfolio?
More…
To read entire interview, click here
How to cite this work: Khelifi, Y. (2026). PMI’s purpose is to “maximize project success to elevate our world”; our Social Impact Programs are a demonstration of that!, Interview with Dr. Ashley Forsyth, PMI, PM World Journal. Vol. XV, Issue VI, June. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/pmwj165-Jun2026-Khelifi-Interview-with-Ashley-PMI.pdf
About the Interviewer
Yasmina Khelifi
Paris, France
Yasmina Khelifi, PMP, PMI- ACP, PMI-PBA is an experienced project manager in the telecom industry. Along with her 20-year career at Orange S.A. (the large French multinational telecommunications corporation), she sharpened her global leadership skills, delivering projects with major manufacturers and SIM makers. Yasmina strives for building collaborative bridges between people to make international projects successful. She relies on three pillars: project management skills, the languages she speaks, and a passion for sharing knowledge.
She is a PMP certification holder since 2013, a PMI- ACP and PMI-PBA certification holder since 2020. She is an active volunteer member at PMI France and PMI UAE, and a member of PMI Germany Chapter. French-native, she can speak German, English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and she is learning Arabic. Yasmina loves sharing her knowledge and experiences at work, in her volunteers’ activities at PMI, and in projectmanagement.com as a regular blogger. She is also the host and co-founder of the podcast Global Leaders Talk with Yasmina Khelifi to help people in becoming better international leaders.
Yasmina can be contacted at https://yasminakhelifi.com/ or LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasminakhelifi-pmp-telecom/
Visit her correspondent profile at https://pmworldlibrary.net/yasmina-khelifi/
To view other works by Yasmina, visit her author showcase in the PM World Library at https://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/yasmina-khelifi/
