Donna Nielsen PMP CISSP CBCI ITIL
Owner / Sr Consultant at Gemstone Consulting- Claim this Profile
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Spanish Professional working proficiency
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Thai Limited working proficiency
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Lao Limited working proficiency
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Chinese Elementary proficiency
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Czech Elementary proficiency
Topline Score
Bio
Raymond Palkovic, Innovative CIO
I first met Donna in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as she was working with EDS on our account, building the systems needed to support our cellular startup company, which was "exploding" cellular service into every town in the interior of Argentina with 500 or more population in less than 6 months. Donna performed extremely well on that very intense project, and when we met back in the US I was delighted to ask her to join my IT organization. Donna's project management ability was second to none, and she helped to greatly improve the IT organizations' relationship with our clientele. I would work with Donna again in a heartbeat.
Raymond Palkovic, Innovative CIO
I first met Donna in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as she was working with EDS on our account, building the systems needed to support our cellular startup company, which was "exploding" cellular service into every town in the interior of Argentina with 500 or more population in less than 6 months. Donna performed extremely well on that very intense project, and when we met back in the US I was delighted to ask her to join my IT organization. Donna's project management ability was second to none, and she helped to greatly improve the IT organizations' relationship with our clientele. I would work with Donna again in a heartbeat.
Raymond Palkovic, Innovative CIO
I first met Donna in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as she was working with EDS on our account, building the systems needed to support our cellular startup company, which was "exploding" cellular service into every town in the interior of Argentina with 500 or more population in less than 6 months. Donna performed extremely well on that very intense project, and when we met back in the US I was delighted to ask her to join my IT organization. Donna's project management ability was second to none, and she helped to greatly improve the IT organizations' relationship with our clientele. I would work with Donna again in a heartbeat.
Raymond Palkovic, Innovative CIO
I first met Donna in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as she was working with EDS on our account, building the systems needed to support our cellular startup company, which was "exploding" cellular service into every town in the interior of Argentina with 500 or more population in less than 6 months. Donna performed extremely well on that very intense project, and when we met back in the US I was delighted to ask her to join my IT organization. Donna's project management ability was second to none, and she helped to greatly improve the IT organizations' relationship with our clientele. I would work with Donna again in a heartbeat.
Credentials
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Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
(ISC)²Sep, 2012- Oct, 2024 -
Certificate of the Business Continuity Institute CBCI
Business Continuity Institute (BCI) -
ITIL Information Technology Library
ITIL Certified -
PMP Project Management Professional
Project Management Institute -
Six Sigma Black Belt Certification – Level I
Six Sigma Global Institute
Experience
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Gemstone Consulting
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United States
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Business Consulting and Services
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1 - 100 Employee
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Owner / Sr Consultant
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Jun 2016 - Present
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Illinois Emergency Management Agency
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United States
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Public Safety
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1 - 100 Employee
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Operational Liaison
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Mar 2021 - Apr 2021
• Strategic planning for daily operations• Analysis of production data including matrix of daily targets, objectives and projections• Advise on resource allocation to avoid waste of vaccine and distribution of staff and resources• Ensure HIPPA security around data collection and validate data accuracy and integrity• Inform multiple local and federal government agencies on daily and hourly progress status • Strategic planning for daily operations• Analysis of production data including matrix of daily targets, objectives and projections• Advise on resource allocation to avoid waste of vaccine and distribution of staff and resources• Ensure HIPPA security around data collection and validate data accuracy and integrity• Inform multiple local and federal government agencies on daily and hourly progress status
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Nissin Foods
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United States
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Food & Beverages
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700 & Above Employee
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Project Consultant: Disaster recovery, enterprise resilience, business continuity planning
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Mar 2020 - Dec 2020
• Manage projects related to enterprise resilience, business continuity and disaster recovery• Determine essential functions thru Business Impact Analysis (BIA)• Review, test and update IT Disaster Recovery plans local and cloud, inclusive of vendors• Identify and analyze technical and operational risks, by impact (financial and other) and occurrence • Propose a variety of alternative mitigation options by investment for relevant risks and hazards• Estimate business impact and prioritize mitigation solutions. Determine corporate risk tolerance • Present cost/benefit analysis and solutions to C-level management• Document, train and test business continuity plan. Establish plan management cycle
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CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
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United States
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Insurance
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700 & Above Employee
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Consultant: Implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
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Mar 2013 - Jul 2018
• Work with stakeholders to determine practical requirements that confirm with security standards• Negotiate contract and performance metrics, including penalties and incentives, with vendors• Ensure data security compliance with HIPPA requirements• Measure, track and report performance metrics to C-level executives• Prioritize incidents to align to business objectives and oversee change management• Maintain operational responsibility for development, testing / QA and user support• Work directly with executive stakeholders and manage vendor relationships• Develop framework for capacity management for development resources and workstream• Establish governance, process and procedures for managing relationships with vendors• Prioritize incidents and serve as a change agent • Work with IT and Business leadership teams to identify, recommend and implement transformational models based on business priorities• Partner with business and technology teams to perform spend analysis and identify savings• Define and track quantifiable measures of financial success and quality improvements
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SunTrust
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United States
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Financial Services
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700 & Above Employee
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VP, IT and Security
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Jan 2006 - Mar 2013
• Direct enterprise projects to convert, upgrade and implement new applications and systems• $500 million project, 300+ team• Provide continuous risk analysis and mitigation focused on impact to daily operations• Manage corporate-wide security compliance projects in highly regulated financial services• Ensure Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) standards and compliance for data retention and security• Define internal security requirements and provide governance• Manage and maintain strict regulatory security requirements• Enforce government regulations• Outline and ensure compliance with corporate security policies• Manage security for 3 call centers, 500 branches, online presence and electronic communications• Work with interdisciplinary teams, interface with and influence executive management
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GTE/Verizon
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Telecommunications
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1 - 100 Employee
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Director, Information Systems (1997-2001)
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Jan 1996 - Dec 2005
Director, Information Systems (1997-2001)• Responsible for information security, software development, production operations and support• Managed $7M department budget, core team of 300 professionals, four major vendors and 100+ contractors in three states, onshore and offshore for service delivery of information systemsProject Manager, Information Technology (1995 – 1997)• Led multiple cross-functional teams for more than 12 concurrent technology projects ensuring on time, on budget delivery, exceeding sponsor requirements• Interfaced with executives and stakeholders to define requirements for projects• Negotiated deliverables to maintain cost, schedule and quality to meet business requirements• Managed mobile communications implementation onsite in Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Electronic Data Systems
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United States
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IT Services and IT Consulting
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1 - 100 Employee
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Director of IT, Global Account Manager, Sr Project Manager
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Jan 1990 - Dec 1995
• Manage a team of 300 staff and $500m budget• Track, manage and report on project status to executives• Prioritize requirements and establish change management objectives• Identify risk, analyze impact, determine mitigation strategies, resolve customer conflict• Negotiate, measure and monitor requirements with vendor and stakeholders applying penalties• Successful migration of technology to external vendor• Onsite account manager for European and South American clients • Manage a team of 300 staff and $500m budget• Track, manage and report on project status to executives• Prioritize requirements and establish change management objectives• Identify risk, analyze impact, determine mitigation strategies, resolve customer conflict• Negotiate, measure and monitor requirements with vendor and stakeholders applying penalties• Successful migration of technology to external vendor• Onsite account manager for European and South American clients
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Education
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Northeastern University
Master's degree, Business Continuity, Emergency Management, Homeland Security -
Brandeis University
Master of Science (MS), Virtual Management -
The George Washington University
Masters, Project Management -
Simmons College
BA, Communications and Media