Founder, Women Of Project Management, Community Organizer, & Speaker
With a career that spans 20 years, Asya Watkins is a distinguished expert in the project management industry, working alongside revered brands like Walgreens, CVS/Caremark, Optum, & United Healthcare. Her expertise has allowed her to serve as the Director of Mentorship for the Project Management Institute (PMI), and as one of the creators of the Women of Walgreens initiative – the first women’s network for the Walgreens Corporation.
Asya earned her Masters of Business Administration from National University, with a concentration in Organizational Leadership, her PMP® (Project Management Professional) global certification from the Project Management Institute, her LEAN Six Sigma Certification from United Healthcare’s Center of Excellence, and her undergraduate degree in Biology & Chemistry from the illustrious HBCU, Xavier University of Louisiana.
Featured in Forbes for International Women’s Day as a leading voice in the project management industry, Asya is an internationally-recognized authority in her field. She has served as keynote speaker for the Project Management Institute (PMI) in Beijing, as well as other elite organizations and leadership conferences around the world. She can also be heard lending her voice and expertise to various podcasts, including the Project Management Institute (PMI) Podcast, Projectified™ as well as her very own top rated project management podcast Women Of Project Management™.
Today, Asya is the founder of Women Of Project Management (WOPM), a community organization that was born out of Asya’s own desire for community, as she maneuvered the project management industry, often as the only woman in the room. Since its inception, WOPM has remained steadfast in its goal to provide support, education, and other valuable resources for women, especially Black women and women of color, working in the project management industry. Asya’s mission is to ensure these women are able to receive the tools, training, and network they need to not only succeed in the world of project management, but become leaders who aspire to give back to their communities. In 2021, Asya decided to dedicate herself full-time to this vision. To date, Women Of Project Management has steadily grown into an organization of over 1,000+ active members – and it’s only just getting started. Among many things, Asya is also a wife, mother, friend and mentor. Her dreams of creating a lasting impact for women like her continues to be the driving force behind her success.
