Rebecca Winston: PMI Fellow Shaping Project Management Across 40 Nations
Rebecca Winston has spent over two decades doing what few consultants can claim: leading highly technical organizations with genuine global reach. As President and Principal Consultant of Winston Strategic Management Consulting, based in Idaho Falls, Idaho, she has worked in over 40 countries, guiding clients across government, private, non-profit, and academic sectors to achieve award-winning projects, unprecedented contract wins, expanded market share, and enhanced stakeholder value. That scope - and the consistency of those results - is what makes her one of the most distinctive voices in strategic management consulting today.
Her expertise spans strategic and business planning alongside project, program, and portfolio management. She is widely recognized for building high-performing senior management teams, developing innovative products and services, and driving sustainable growth across sectors. That breadth is no accident. Winston attributes her success to tenacity, persistent study, and intellectual openness. "I never take 'no' for an answer," she says, adding that she makes a point of learning enough about each technical domain to ask the right questions. "There are no shortcuts or panaceas" - a philosophy that has served clients well across four continents.
Her standing in the project management community reflects years of deliberate contribution. A sought-after speaker and published author, she has presented at PMI and IPMA conferences - including the IPMA 10th Research Conference - on cognitive readiness, risk communication, leadership, and innovation. She has contributed to the development of ISO project management standards through her service on the US Technical Advisory Group for ISO TC 258, and has served on the Air Force Studies Review Board of the National Academies of Science. A Fellow and board member of the Project Management Institute, she continues to shape professional standards at the highest level.
Her recognitions speak to consistent impact: named among the Ten Inspirational Women in Project Management, honored as one of the 100 Most Inspiring People in Project Management, and featured as a Marquis Who's Who listee for 2023. Her memberships include the American Bar Association, the Nebraska Bar Association, and the College of Performance Management - grounded in her Juris Doctor from the University of Nebraska College of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Education from Nebraska Wesleyan University.
On the biggest challenge facing her field, she is direct: artificial intelligence. "We must embrace technology, but to do so means we must learn the benefits, risks, and constraints of the technology and its applications." For the next generation - particularly young women entering the profession - her advice centers on mentorship, continuous learning, and reciprocity: "Helping others will increase opportunities for them but will make you a better professional, for nothing enhances knowledge as much as sharing it."
