Giving Back, Driving Progress: The Impact of Volunteering with PMI

By: The Project Management Institute

Volunteering isn’t just about giving back—it’s about creating the change you want to see in the world. For project managers, it’s an opportunity to embrace collaboration, purpose, and growth. And volunteering with PMI amplifies these values, connecting the global PMI community, fostering personal and professional development, and shaping the future of the project management profession.

Being an active member of the global PMI community goes beyond making an impact. It’s a chance to refine your project management skills, discover new opportunities, and achieve personal and professional growth.

But don’t just take our word for it—hear directly from PMI volunteers who share how their experiences have transformed their career journeys and helped them build lasting connections.

And if you volunteer with PMI we’d love to hear how it’s made a difference in your life. Share in the comments and inspire others to join this community of project professionals. The PMI Educational Foundation  

The PMI Educational Foundation

The PMI Educational Foundation (PMIEF) empowers young people to realize their potential and transform lives through project management. By partnering with youth-serving nonprofits, PMIEF integrates project management into their curricula, reaching over two million young people each year.  Volunteers are essential, offering their time as coaches, mentors, and competition judges.  

PMI Chapters 

PMI Chapters are the hub of local project management communities. Led by volunteers, chapters provide members with networking opportunities, resources for career development, access to events, and support for PMI certifications. Each chapter fosters an environment to share insights, best practices, and innovations in project management, helping members stay engaged and up to date with industry trends.  

The NextGen Outreach Committee 

The NextGen Outreach Committee (NGOC) is a dynamic group of project professionals under the age of 35 who represent the future of the profession. They bring fresh perspectives, diverse experiences, and the enthusiasm to inspire career-long learning.

PMI Infinity™ — Prompt Engineering Research and Development 

As a PMI Infinity™ testers, volunteers guide the development of an important AI tool for project professionals. By providing valuable feedback on the tool’s responses across various prompts and content, their insights directly contribute to the enhancement and refinement of PMI Infinity.  

Project Managers Without Borders 

Through Project Managers Without Borders, volunteers can get connected with not-for-profit or non-government organizations in need of project management guidance. Volunteers empower and equip these deserving organizations with sustainable project management processes, tools, and solutions aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.  

Sustainability Outreach Committee  

The Sustainability Outreach Committee supports the expansion of PMI’s involvement, knowledge, presence, and resources in the sustainability space, helping project managers create a greener future.  

Standards 

PMI global standards are the foundation of the project management profession, ensuring organizations’ knowledge and frameworks are up to date. Volunteers can serve in the roles of development, review, or public review, working together in a way that emphasizes consensus, openness, due process, and balance.   

Board of Directors 

Our Board of Directors, composed of 12 dedicated volunteers elected by PMI members, collaborates closely with the CEO and Executive Leadership Team to guide our purpose and strategy, while embodying our cultural values and helping to advance the project management profession. 

"Serving as this year’s Chair of the PMI Board of Directors has been an extraordinary opportunity to guide the organization’s strategic direction while fostering the growth of our global community of project professionals. Together with PMI’s Executive Team, we worked on implementing our new strategy PMI:Next. We collaborated closely with PMI senior leaders, and our diverse community to advance the strategy that empowers project professionals to maximize project success to elevate our world. 

One of the most rewarding aspects of this role has been visiting chapters around the world, where we engage with members and project management professionals to share our new strategy and listen to their perspectives. These events, brought to life by our incredible chapter volunteers, reflect PMI’s 55-year legacy of ‘by us, for us.’  

Our volunteers—now more than 13,000 strong, from the five who started PMI in 1969—are at the heart of PMI’s value creation and delivery engine. They are the source of the content, insights, and initiatives that drive our profession forward and make it possible for PMI to amplify and deliver value to project professionals worldwide.  

As Board members, we represent our community. Having these interactions with members and practitioners reaffirms the alignment of our strategy with the aspirations of our community, while also highlighting opportunities to help members and professionals learn, grow, and thrive in an ever-changing world. PMI is truly special because of the dedication, expertise, and passion of our volunteers and community.” - LuAnn Piccard, PMP, Chair  

Ready to get involved? PMI offers a wide array of volunteer roles designed to fit diverse locations, interests, time commitments, and work styles. Whether you're looking to share your expertise, connect with like-minded professionals, or develop new skills, there's an opportunity for you. Explore the full range of volunteer opportunities.     

This article was originally published on The PMI Blog.