2026 Symposium Speakers
Alexander Scott
CEO/Founder Learn-Aprende
Alexander is an associate professor at Virginia Western Community College. He has received multiple awards in his teaching career for teaching excellence. He has had the pleasure of working in education, aviation, and business. His educational background is also in those three areas, with a B.A in Modern Languages and Literature, MBA in Marketing, Master's in teaching Spanish as a foreign/second language, Master's in Communication, Master's in Applied Linguistics to the teaching of Spanish, Aviation weather specialist, and Air Traffic control certificate.
Those experiences have provided him opportunities to work in private and public education and colleges with responsibilities as a Manager assistant, Weather aviation specialist, air traffic controller, EFL and ESL teacher (K-12, college and adult education), Spanish professor, Marketing and Public Speaking professor, Liberal Arts program head, and corporate trainer.
He has taught for more than 24 years, his passion since high school. He loves and enjoys creating students' competence in the target subject that could make them feel better about themselves and become lifelong learners. He strives to create an environment where his students enjoy and have a great educational experience.
Andy Travers
Director of Ethics, Compliance and Sustainability at USFoods
Andy Travers is a seasoned management professional with over thirty years of diverse management experience across multiple industries. Travers worked as a Manager and Merchandise Planner for the Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Outlet Division, during a period of explosive growth.
He then moved into operations for outdoor sporting goods leader, Orvis, where he was responsible for world-wide fulfilment and customer service operations. In this role he served as PM for multiple capital projects including a shipping conveyor system, the opening and integration of remote call centers, and the IT and distribution integration of UK operations.
Travers served as Director of Ethics, Compliance and Sustainability for USFoods, where he worked with operations leadership in developing new sustainability strategies for energy use and fleet operations. Travers recommended and implemented multiple fleet enhancements as the company’s SmartWay Administrator.
Later, he added to his food and beverage industry expertise, as General Manager for Roanoke Valley Wine Company (RVWC). At RVWC Travers served as PM for a project that included the largest private solar array in SWVA. He also managed multiple projects related to expanding the operational footprint into DC and MD.
Travers now shares his experience with students as a Management Instructor at Radford University, where his teaching emphasis areas are Project Management, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, and Business Ethics.
In addition to he teaching at Radford, Travers also has delivered project management workshops for students at Kassel University in Germany, and most recently for the Treasurers of Virginia.
Kelley Lawton
Director of Project Management at Modea
Kelley Lawton is a technology and transformation leader with more than 20 years of experience spanning PMO leadership, program and project management, Agile delivery, and software development. She is currently Director of Project Management at Modea, a healthcare digital consultancy headquartered in Blacksburg, Virginia. She has worked across healthcare, cybersecurity, SaaS, and public safety domains, within organizations ranging from Fortune 50 enterprises to small, growth-oriented companies.
She began her career in software development, a technical foundation that still anchors her approach to program governance and Agile delivery. Kelley focuses on turning strategy into execution by establishing effective delivery and governance practices, creating transparency and accountability, and building
collaborative, high-performing teams.
Her professional credentials include the PMP, SAFe SPC, CSM, SASM, ICP-ACC, PMI-ACP, and ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC). Kelley lives in Roanoke, VA with her husband and two teenage children. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, exercise, and volunteering with causes that are important to her
Keynote Speaker
Dave Prior
Chief Experience Officer at The Agile Network
Dave Prior, CPMAI, ICAgile AI-Ready, PMP, PMI-ACP, CST, CSP, A-CSM, A-CSPO, CSM, CSPO, LAVM
Dave has spent 30 years leading projects and helping people find better ways to work, with deep experience across traditional project management, Agile, and AI. He believes the future belongs to PMs who can move fluently between all three.
He has been podcasting about Agile and Project Management since 2008. His drunkenPM Radio podcast and blog, The Reluctant Agilist, have been part of ProjectManagement.com since it launched, and he co-hosts Systems of Imperfection and Surf the Chaos. His podcasts have over 1,000,000 listens.
As an independent consultant, coach, and trainer, Dave works with organizations focused on improving productivity, sharpening their project management and agile practices, and embracing AI. He leads classes in Scrum, Project Management, Product Ownership, Personal Kanban, Artificial Intelligence, and Sun Tzu's The Art of War. He is the co-author, with Stuart Young, of No One is Coming to Save You: The Power-Ups to Help You Surf the Chaos
Patrick Dunn
Senior Confluent Services Manager at IBM
Senior Confluent Services Manager, IBM • PMP • CPMAI
Patrick Dunn is a Senior Confluent Services Manager at IBM and a veteran technology executive with over 18 years of experience guiding complex digital transformations. Combining deep technical expertise with strategic program execution, Patrick specializes in building dynamic, high-performing delivery organizations across public and private sectors. He holds Project Management Professional (PMP) and a PMI Certified Project Manager in AI (CPMAI) credential and brings deep expertise leading a diverse portfolio of program and projects across STEaM domains.
Wendi Pannell
CEO, Pannell Consulting
Wendi Pannell is a seasoned business, technology, and project leadership expert with more than two decades of experience turning complex ideas into executable plans. Throughout her corporate career at organizations including HP and GE, she led large-scale programs and cross-functional teams, helping people navigate ambiguity, align around a clear vision, and move critical initiatives forward.
Today, as founder of Pannell Consulting, Wendi works with leaders and organizations to bring that same clarity to their biggest challenges. Known for her practical, people-centered approach, she helps teams cut through complexity, strengthen communication and accountability, and build the systems and habits that turn strategy into meaningful progress.
