2025 PMI-OC Board of Governors Election & Candidate Information

Welcome to the PMI Orange County 2025 Board of Governors election page. Below you’ll find the election timeline, voting instructions, answers to frequently asked questions, and the full candidate bios for the four candidates on this year’s ballot.

Election Overview

  • Voting window: December 2 – December 7, 2025
  • How to vote: Voting will be conducted by electronic ballot. You will receive an eBallot email from PMI on December 2. Follow the link in that message to cast your vote.
  • Contact for voting issues: nominations@pmi-oc.org
  • Results announced: Results will be announced at the December PMI-OC dinner meeting.

Quick Notes for Voters

  • Make sure emails from PMI are not routed to spam or Promotions. If you do not receive an eBallot on December 2, please contact nominations@pmi-oc.org.
  • Only PMI members in good standing who are eligible voters will receive the ballot.
  • The eBallot system is provided by PMI; please use the secure link in the eBallot email to cast your vote.

Frequently Asked Questions (short)

Q: How many seats are open?
A: Four (4) Board of Governors seats, each a two-year term beginning April 1, 2026.

Q: Who managed the nomination process?
A: The PMI-OC Nominating Committee vetted nominees, verified eligibility, and prepared the ballot.

Q: Who should I contact with questions?
A: nominations@pmi-oc.org

Candidate Bios

Kamal Kaur — Candidate for Board of Governors

Current role: Vice President of Finance, PMI Orange County Board of Governors

Kamal Kaur is a seasoned project leader with over 20 years of experience in IT, data, and emerging technologies, and she currently serves on the PMI Orange County Board of Governors as the Vice President of Finance. She first joined PMI-OC to expand her professional network but soon became motivated to serve more deeply as she realized how much the chapter supports learning, growth, and leadership development for project professionals. For Kamal, being on the Board is not just about advancing her own skills—it is about contributing to the collective advancement of the project management community.

In her Finance leadership role, Kamal has made several significant contributions that have strengthened chapter operations, including:

  • Implementing consistent financial reporting practices that improve clarity and accountability
  • Completing all financial accounting activities on time, both monthly and annually
  • Building and expanding the Finance team, increasing capacity and strengthening succession planning

Kamal sees three critical challenges ahead for PMI-OC:

  1. Increasing financial transparency
  2. Improving long-term volunteer retention
  3. Strengthening security of sensitive information

If reelected, she plans to continue enhancing financial clarity, protect the chapter’s data, and focus on volunteer engagement. Her approach begins with understanding individual motivations and introducing volunteers to opportunities that help them grow, contribute, and realize their professional potential.

Known for her responsiveness, Kamal supports the Board’s 24-hour communication standard and strives to maintain timely, professional correspondence. She hopes to continue building a secure, transparent, and collaborative environment that supports sustainable growth for PMI-OC and its members.

Vazi Okhandiar — Candidate for Board of Governors

Current role: Vice President of Programs, PMI Orange County Board of Governors

Dr. Vazi Okhandiar, DBA, MBA, PMP brings more than three decades of leadership experience in technology, software engineering, education, and AI innovation to her current role as Vice President of Programs on the PMI Orange County Board of Governors. She joined PMI-OC seeking a professional community dedicated to project management excellence, and soon realized she could make a lasting impact by contributing at the Board level. Her belief in collaborative growth, mentorship, and community-wide learning led her to step into chapter leadership.

As VP of Programs, Vazi oversees four critical operational teams: Networking, Professional Development Day, Community Outreach, and Sponsorships. In this role, she has:

  • Strengthened sponsorship relationships, bringing resources that elevate programming and broaden opportunities
  • Expanded PMI-OC’s connections with nonprofit organizations, increasing visibility and community impact
  • Improved engagement with members and prospective members at events, fostering a more connected and informed chapter community

Vazi recognizes three key challenges facing PMI-OC: volunteer retention, member engagement, and the chapter’s adaptability in a rapidly evolving profession that includes AI, agile, and hybrid delivery models. If re-elected, she intends to:

  • Promote flexible, well-defined volunteer opportunities and consistent recognition
  • Increase member value visibility, aligning offerings with professional needs
  • Champion forward-looking educational programs and partnerships that keep PMI-OC at the industry forefront

She strongly supports the Board expectation of 24-hour responsiveness, believing it builds trust, transparency, and momentum.

With a career spanning Fortune 500 consulting, university leadership, and advanced engineering roles, Vazi brings strategic technical expertise and a passion for mentoring the next generation of project managers. She hopes to continue building a vibrant, innovative, and community-driven PMI-OC.

Narmela Sargis — Candidate for Board of Governors

Former roles include: Multiple Vice President positions; Chapter President

Narmela Sargis has been an active volunteer with PMI Orange County for over 14 years and has served the chapter in multiple leadership roles, including several Vice President positions and three years as Chapter President. During her tenure she has driven member-focused initiatives that increased volunteer engagement and chapter programming. Notably, Narmela championed the transition from volunteer certificates to a regular volunteer recognition program, played a leading role in the success of the 2016, 2019, and 2023 Professional Development Days, and helped secure sought-after keynote speakers for chapter events.

Narmela’s priorities as a Board candidate are practical and future-oriented: she will advocate for member value, lead efforts to adopt and leverage emerging technologies (including AI) across chapter programs, and implement outreach strategies to attract new and younger members — including stronger ties with colleges and partner organizations. She emphasizes creating more compelling networking and educational events to boost recruitment and retention.

Known for dependable communication and follow-through, Narmela checks and responds to chapter correspondence promptly and commits to the Board’s expectation of timely engagement. If elected, she intends to be a visible, accessible, and vocal representative for PMI-OC members while helping the Board modernize programming and expand chapter impact.

Mai Tran — Candidate for Board of Governors

Current role: Vice President of Membership (since April 2025)
Previous roles include: Director of Volunteers, VP of Strategy, Chapter President

Mai Tran - Background and Qualifications:

  • Bachelor of Engineering, MBA, PMP, Crestcom 1yr Leadership Program.
  • Over 25 years of Project Management working for multiple international companies, specializing in strategic planning, large capital projects and network optimization in Europe, South America and the U.S.
  • Forward-looking vision, ability to think strategically, identify priorities, and manage complex project situations.
  • Served as Director of Volunteers, VP of Strategy, and President for PMI-OC chapter.
  • Served as volunteer director and committee member in three different local community organizations.

PMI-OC Experience

Mai brings more than ten years of dedicated service to PMI Orange County, beginning shortly after earning her PMP certification. After attending her first chapter dinner meeting, she was inspired by the high-quality content, welcoming community, and strong volunteer leadership, which led her to join as a Magazine Editor for the online magazine Milestones. Since then, she has advanced through several pivotal leadership roles, including Director of Volunteers, VP of Strategy, Chapter President, and most recently VP of Membership, a role she has held since April 2025.

As Director of Volunteers, Mai built one of the chapter’s most critical operational engines. She expanded the Volunteer Team from one to five members, created the formal onboarding and training process, and launched the Volunteers and Fellows “Hall of Fame” pages on the chapter website to honor exceptional chapter volunteer service. She also dedicated her efforts to discovering volunteers’ potential and aspirations, and mentored many into senior leadership roles. Her work strengthened chapter volunteer capacity, professionalized processes, and cultivated future chapter leaders.

As VP of Strategy, she supported the Board in establishing chapter goals, KPIs, and strategic alignment while overseeing both the Membership and Volunteer teams. Her efforts helped stabilize membership during the COVID era, expand outreach, and attract new members and sponsors through relationship building and reimagined orientation events.

During her two-year term as Chapter President, Mai introduced the chapter’s first full-day Board training program, ensuring senior leaders were fully equipped with essential knowledge in governance, finance, leadership, and chapter operations. She focused on setting relevant high level strategic objectives for the new year with measurable KPIs, and critically reviewing these goals at mid-year to enable accomplishment at year end. She enabled the reintroduction of the highly successful in-person Professional Development Day conference in 2024, after 7 years of absence. She also led the acclaimed PMI-OC 35th Anniversary Celebration, which brought together long-standing members, new members, past presidents, sponsors, and regional leaders.

Now serving as VP of Membership, Mai continues to focus on strengthening members recruitment, retention, and individual engagement. Chapter membership has been increasing steadily and her teams’ priorities include expanding member value, building career support services, increasing outreach to students, veterans, and corporate partners, and promoting AI and leadership development for project managers.

Mai is known for her professionalism, inclusiveness, strategic vision, and a passion to serve the chapter and its local members. She hopes to continue helping shape PMI-OC’s future and membership growth, serving on the PMI-OC Board of Governors.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the election process, the candidates, or voting, email the Nominating Committee at: nominations@pmi-oc.org.

Thank you for participating in PMI-OC’s governance. Your vote helps shape the chapter’s future!