Instructors

Mark Tolbert, PMP

Mark has been teaching PMP Prep classes since November of 2007 for a number of leading education companies. The first time success rate for students in his classes on the PMP exam has consistenly exceeded 95%. Mark has designed an new PMP Prep program, built on core ideas and best practices he has learned over the past two years. Add to this several new concepts and approaches to help students learn the PMI definitions view of project management, and you have the best foundation available to help get prepared for the PMP exam.

Mark has over 30 years experience in I.T., including 27 years at Hewlett-Packard. He successfully managed support programs and projects within HP Services from 1994 through 2007. The programs and projects included a large E-Selling program, a multi-vendor support program for a large telecommunications company, data center relocation projects, and MDM (Mobile Device Management) programs.

Mark earned his PMP in 1995, and has been very active in the Washington, DC PMI chapter for the past 14 years. He has served on a number of board positions for the chapter, and has taught PMP Prep classes for the chapter for the past seven years. Mark is currently serving on the board as the trustee for the chapter.

Mark is very passionate about project management, and believes adopting the best project management practices and skills is crucial to the success of enterprises today.

Mark is a long time resident of Northern Virginia, and currently lives in Annandale with his wife Linda. They have three boys who are all working in I.T. careers today.

Thomas C. Bishop, PMP

Tom has more than twenty years experience effectively designing and implementing project management services for both government and commercial clients. Working for various corporations (HP, NCR and AT&T), his services have helped diverse groups both government (Consumer Product Safety Commission, Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, Department of State, Department of Justice, US Postal Service, Internal Revenue Service, Department of Education, Federal Aviation Administration) and commercial (Southern States Cooperative, Crane Wholesale Supply, and the Georgia State Independent Insurance Agents Association.)

Tom has presented and published nationally with a BS degree in Industrial Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has been successful in capturing new business, conducting research, increasing staff, and managing the execution of plans to achieve business goals.

Tom has been very active in the Washington, DC PMI chapter for more than 14 years, and has served on the board the majority of that time. He currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer. His government clearances are current DOD TS with a life style poly in 2006.

A. Chris Fristad, MBA, PMP

Chris has over 20 years of executive experience in streamlining corporate operations, optimizing technical and human resources, and proactive business development. With a reputation for developing highly skilled cross functional teams and driving performance beyond corporate expectations, he has garnered an impressive history in program/project management, process re-engineering and strategic planning.

Chris has led and authored many corporate initiatives. Several highlights include:

  • Creating Systems Engineering and Project Management training programs
  • Authoring a manual to assist corporate level personnel with management of multiple large projects
  • Developing a manual: “Large Construction Project Manual Guidelines for Preparing a Project Execution Plan” for Kellogg, Brown and Root Government Operations
  • Authoring manuals defining effective policies and procedures to ensure corporate compliance
  • Leading efforts for migrating legacy financial systems to new target systems

Chris is a past president of the PMI WDC Chapter and is currently serving as a Director at Large. He began his tenure as the president in 2003 by setting a vision and mission for the Washington DC Chapter; implementing new processes to re-engineer the board to become more strategically oriented rather than operationally focused.

Chris has demonstrated excellent results as a leader, communicator and educator. With both executive experience and a technical background, Chris strives for seeing the “big picture” to proactively resolve challenges.

Remy Naravulu, PMP

Remy has over 20 years of international experience in a wide range of areas including Project / Risk Management, IT Operations Management, Enterprise Content Management (ECM), IT Systems Delivery and IT Infrastructure Design & Management. This real world experience will benefit the students in class, as well as enable them to build a strong understanding using real world examples. Remy’s teaching approach also ensures that the students rely more on logic and context rather than memory alone. Aside from being PMP certified,  Remy is also certified in ITIL (Foundations), ECM Master and a host of other technical certifications.