DSDM Consortium Founder Recognised as 'one of the most influential women' in project management.
Jennifer Stapleton, a founding member of the DSDM Consortium, has been heralded as one of the most influential women in project management by PM Network magazine. “Not content to sit on the sidelines of project management action,” Jennifer and her co-nominees were recognised for their achievements from a global sample of women leaders.
Jennifer first became involved in project management some 25 years ago and it was in 1994 that she was invited to attend an inaugural meeting which brought together professionals interested in developing the rapid application development (RAD) process. At the time working for Logica, she was joined by representatives of some of the foremost blue chip names including American Express, British Airways and Allied Domecq. What emerged from this meeting and subsequent collaboration was DSDM. “This absolutely changed the way people think about IT projects,” says Jennifer.
Ed Holt, who was Chairman of the newly formed DSDM Consortium, had formulated the original idea of DSDM and it was Jennifer who spearheaded its technical development.
She subsequently held the position of Technical Director of the DSDM Consortium for 11 years and was the architect for much of the initial framework and subsequent developments. “The holistic approach of DSDM was the first solution to the problem that Agile methods today are addressing. DSDM is continually evolving but the latest version is still closely based on the original framework,” she says.
Now an independent consultant, but still closely involved with the
Jennifer was also recently awarded Lifetime Honorary Membership of the DSDM Consortium at the Agile Business Conference 2006 in recognition of her contribution to the evolution of DSDM.