Ambassadors of project management to receive APM Honorary Fellowships

The 2015 APM Project Management Awards on 2nd November will see two extraordinary advocates of project management and APM bestowed with Honorary Fellowships at the ceremony in London.

Mary McKinlay (pictured right), managing director of her own project assessment and training company, has worked in project management for almost 30 years as practitioner, researcher and trainer. Following a degree in systems engineering, she started her career on the tornado aircraft and has subsequently worked on many large programmes.

Work as a trouble shooter generated an interest in problem projects and their causes, with project health checks forming an element of her work today. 

Mary has served APM and project management with energy and enthusiasm for a number of years and was a long-standing APM board member.

She has chaired the APM Membership Panel and the Nomination Committee, been a judge and head of APM Awards, chaired a number of APM Conferences and was a member of the Professional Standards and Knowledge Committee helping to develop new standards, qualifications and updates to the APM Body of Knowledge.

Mary’s current activities include vice president of research and awards at the International Project Management Association (IPMA), teaching project management at ESC Lille, working with Queensland University of Technology on the EMBA programme in complexity, as well as being a board member of the International Centre for Complex Project Management.

She is a great advocate of the profession and her inspirational talks and presentations, as well as her work with Bloodhound SSC as an ambassador, enthuse and motivate young people about engineering and project management.

Peter Horsted (pictured right), head of control and compliance for Royal Mail Operations has overseen a period of immense change within the organisation.

Since 2008, the award-winning Royal Mail has undertaken a transformation programme that has covered every aspect of its operations including collections, processing, logistics, sorting and delivery. 

Peter has been instrumental in establishing and championing a professional development framework to support the people shaping and delivering this programme, utilising the APM Competence Framework to great effect.

With Peter’s support, Royal Mail now has staff who have attained Introductory Certificate: The APM Project Fundamentals Qualification, APMP: The APM Project Management Qualification and Practitioner Qualification along with APM Registered Project Professional (RPP) standard.

Royal Mail has also been awarded APM Corporate Accreditation.

Peter’s personal and professional efforts and unwavering support for APM proves he is a proud advocate for the profession. He is chair of the APM Corporate Members Leadership Group, a member of the APM Membership and Fellow Assessment Panel, and is sponsor and champion of the APM Higher Apprenticeship in Project Management scheme with Royal Mail taking its second intake this year.

His commitment to professionalism, development and capability has also seen Peter present at APM events, helping to drive activity and give confidence to individuals and companies who are starting out on their own journey.