For decades, project professionals have offered their skills to causes larger than any single project. In 2024, PMI Lebanon carried that spirit forward by adopting the Project Managers Without Borders (PMWB) initiative, connecting our members with local NGOs seeking to operate with greater capacity and structure. Two years on, the results speak for themselves: real engagements, real relationships, and a growing sense that this is part of who we are as a Chapter.
This year, PMWB takes its next step. A newly formed Committee, established under the PMI Lebanon Board, is turning that early momentum into something built to last: a Center of Excellence for Social Impact.
Why now? Because PMWB’s early work, supporting organizations such as Jouzour Loubnan, Hope Centre, and LMTA, proved that the demand exists and the model works. What it needs next is the structure to scale: capturing what we learn from every engagement rather than starting fresh each time.
That is the Committee’s mandate. Over the coming year, we will develop a Program Charter setting out our purpose and how we work together; a Volunteering Framework to make recruiting, onboarding, and recognizing volunteers simple and repeatable; and, at the heart of it all, Capability Building.
This means developing project management templates, frameworks, and tools that can travel from one NGO engagement to the next, ensuring that every project leaves something reusable behind.
None of this happens without our volunteers. PMWB is powered entirely by professionals who give their time, expertise, and evenings because they believe skilled project management can change how an NGO operates and, through that work, the lives it touches. That dedication is the Committee’s greatest asset. Everything we are building is designed to make it easier to contribute, easier to see the impact of that contribution, and easier for volunteers to be recognized not only nationally, but also regionally and globally.
Our ambition extends beyond Lebanon. PMWB’s work aligns directly with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Quality Education, Decent Work, Reduced Inequalities, and Partnerships for the Goals. Through PMI’s global Hours for Impact program, every hour our volunteers contribute becomes part of that larger story.
My vision is to create a Center of Excellence that can help scale PMWB’s support to NGOs through a structured framework, one that could ultimately be adopted by PMI Chapters around the world, because social impact and value travel easily.
In this first year, success looks like this: a tested, repeatable NGO intake process open to the whole volunteer team; a library of capability-building assets ready for reuse; and thought leadership that shares what we learn with the wider project management community.
On a personal note, I joined the PMI Lebanon Chapter two years ago. What struck me most was the commitment of every Board member and volunteer to the growth of the profession. What started as an opportunity to support the creation of bite-sized project management learning capsules grew into something bigger and more impactful.
I am grateful to Mrs. Mira Thoumy and Mrs. Mary Jarjour for welcoming me to this initiative and involving me from its inception. They have done a great deal to bring PMWB to Lebanon, and I now have the responsibility of carrying their legacy forward.
This is a Chapter-wide effort. If you believe, as we do, that project management skills can be a force for good, we would love for you to be part of building it. Watch for details on how to get involved in the months ahead.
Let’s build this together.
Rashad Issa, FCQI | FCXA | FRSA
Chair, PMWB Committee, PMI Lebanon Chapter
About the PMWB Chair
Mr. Rashad is a transformation leader who helps organizations build capability, drive operational excellence, and create value through quality management. He serves as Chair of the Board of the Chartered Quality Institute and is Founder and Chief Quality Officer of “the Q strategy”.
A PMI volunteer for over a decade, Rashad previously served on the PMI UK Board and as a founding Global Leader of PMI’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Insights team. He holds the PMP® and PMI-PMOCP™ certifications and a master’s degree in Applied Project Management, Managing Innovation and Organizational Change. He also hosts the Quality Impact and Rashad in Conversation podcasts.
