Bridging Projects and Finance: Driving Results through Collaboration
Successful projects depend on more than strong plans, sound financial practices, or technical expertise. They require professionals across functions to understand one another, communicate effectively, manage risk, and work together toward shared outcomes.
Join PMI Carolina and the Charlotte Alliance of Black Accountants (CABA) for Bridging Projects and Finance: Driving Results through Collaboration, an engaging joint networking and professional development event designed to bring project management and finance professionals together.
Through two complementary sessions, participants will explore both the technical safeguards that support effective project execution and the durable human skills that help teams turn plans into results.
CABA Session
Presenation Title: Internal Controls and Compliance in Project Execution: What PMs Need to Know to Stay Out of Trouble
Presented by: Cindy Jean and Sylvia Emuwa
Projects often involve financial decisions, approvals, documentation, access controls, and compliance requirements that can create risk when they are overlooked or misunderstood. This session will help project professionals better understand the role internal controls and compliance play throughout project execution and how stronger collaboration with finance partners can help prevent avoidable issues.
Learning objectives:
By the end of the CABA session, participants will be able to:
- Understand the basics of internal controls and why they matter in projects
- Identify common control failures in projects (approvals, documentation, segregation of duties)
- Leanr how to build controls into project workflows without slowing progress
- Apply real-world examples from audits and regulatory environments
PMI Carolina Session
Presentation Title: The Human Side of Getting Work Done: Durable Skills for Leading Projects and People
Presented by: Lloyetta Walls
Technical expertise may help professionals manage the work, but durable skills help them move the work forward through people.
In this interactive session, participants will explore the communication, relationship-building, adaptability, and conflict-navigation skills needed to lead projects successfully. Participants will consider how these skills help professionals build trust, motivate colleagues, navigate competing priorities, and influence decisions.
Through practical examples and a guided activity, participants will identify durable skills they can strengthen and practice techniques they can immediately apply when working with colleagues, clients, leaders, and cross-functional teams.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of the PMI Carolina session, participants will be able to:
- Identify durable skills that help professionals build trust, navigate conflict, and move project outcomes forward.
- Apply a practical technique to a real-world situation involving competing priorities, unclear expectations, or resistance.
The event will also provide dedicated time to network with professionals across project management, accounting, finance, and related disciplines, creating opportunities to build new connections and strengthen cross-functional relationships.
Whether you lead projects, manage financial responsibilities, support compliance and controls, or collaborate across business functions, this event will provide practical insights you can use to work more effectively across teams and drive better results.
About our presenters:
Lloyetta Walls is a senior strategy and product leader with more than two decades of experience helping organizations turn complex priorities into clear, actionable plans. She is the founder of Focus Unboxed, a people-centered strategy and coaching practice that helps professionals and organizations build clearer systems, strengthen collaboration, and move work forward with greater ease. Her work combines project management, systems thinking, leadership development, and neuroinclusive practices. She's especially drawn to the moments where influence matters more than authority, where clear communication replaces guesswork, and where a team finally has room to do its best work.
Cindy Jean is a Finance and Compliance professional with over 16 years of experience in regulatory oversight, governance, and operational leadership. A proud Haitian American, she serves her Charlotte community as a Haitian Creole medical interpreter, bridging critical language gaps in healthcare settings. Alongside her corporate career, Cindy is a public speaker and career strategist dedicated to equipping college students and early-career professionals with the clarity, confidence, and strategy they need to thrive.
Sylvia Emuwa has always believed that the numbers tell a story — and that most small business owners deserve someone who will actually sit down and read it with them. A seasoned accountant, operator, and business survivor, Sylvia has spent over a decade in rooms most small business owners never access — rooms with investors managing over $500M, executives at major retailers like Kroger, media platforms like NPR and Essence Magazine, and founders of nationally recognized brands.
