February 7, 2024 Chapter Meeting

Come hear Wendy Harris and Tai Cochran discuss Innovation and Transformation in the City of Memphis!

• Integrate change within organizations; and
• Recognize and manage employee resistance.

PDUs: Ways of Working (all credentials): 2.00

Wendy Harris is the current VP of Service Delivery at FourthSquare, and former Chief Information Officer for the City of Memphis’ Information Technology Division. As the CIO, Wendy served as the day-to-day lead managing the various functions within the IT Division and coordinates and provides advice to the executive leadership team and enterprise division directors. She is experienced in leading teams to design and implement successful projects and meet operational goals that align business and IT objectives to deliver rapid results. With twenty years in the public and private sectors, Wendy has experience in project management, lean management, vendor management, and delivering and monitoring technology solutions. She also monitors an annual IT Portfolio of 100 million dollars and an operations budget of 25 million dollars. Before becoming CIO, Harris served in several information technology leadership roles at the City of Memphis, including PMO Director, Operations Manager, and Deputy CIO. Wendy received her BA degree in Psychology and minor in Sociology from the University of Memphis. She is a member of the Project Management Institute holding the Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Scrum Master (CSM) certifications.

Tai Cochran brings two decades of expertise as a program management practitioner implementing IT and HR solutions across public and private sectors. She specializes in HR transformations through policy creation, strategy, organizational change management, process improvements, training, and software solution implementation. Alongside her corporate achievements, Tai has earned two master’s degrees: the first in management of information systems, the other in organizational leadership and learning from The George Washington University. She earned her undergraduate degree in computer science and mathematics from the illustrious Winston-Salem State University in NC. Tai is the CEO of HER PM, dedicated to delivering High-quality Execution and Results (HER) for executives and business owners. Tai’s company has led historic and groundbreaking projects for the cities of Atlanta and Memphis through the implementation of their first-ever automated time and attendance systems. The company has also strategically partnered with the team of highly motivated and professional project managers who ensure their client’s projects successfully reach the finish line.