Some History
Our Origins
We are a social entrepreneurial nonprofit organization originally established by unemployed Project Managers in Portland, Maine.
Several PMs came together in 2009 to support thousands of unemployed professionals in Maine who lost their jobs as a consequence of the devastating global economic collapse that began September 15, 2008.
The focus of the support Work It UP delivers is to connect skilled professionals with local small businesses and other nonprofit organizations seeking the skills of our volunteer member professionals.
Over a period of three years from 2010 - 2012 the mission of the organization evolved with the help of the, Project Management Institute's, Education Foundation and Alpha Projects Mentorship Program (APMP) to become a nonprofit Program Management Office.
Thanks to grants from PMI, EF, the hard-working staff of volunteers at APMP and the PMI, Maine Chapter, (PgMO Volunteers) Work it UP developed a curriculum of project management training for its members who donated their time and skills to help small businesses grow and create jobs in Maine.
Training modules created include two PMI, EF funded courses: a Certified Associate Project Manager (CAPM) preparatory classroom training, combined with a 6-12 week local small business growth project offered to our member volunteers and Your Team, an advanced course for small business companies seeking industry best practices training for stakeholders and project/product delivery teams.
Additionally, training modules were developed and delivered to members and clients in Business and Technology Change Management, Agile, Scrum, Lean, Kanban, & Extreme Programming.
In 2015, Work It UP suspended operations as approximately 85% of it's registered members returned to the workforce.
From 2010-2012 Work It UP volunteers successfully donated over half a million dollars worth of professional services per year to aid in the revitalization of Maine's economy helping local companies, nonprofits, individual entrepreneurs, colleges & universities to create jobs in Maine.
Our Thanks to all those who made a difference.
Whether you have helped through monetary donations, volunteering your time, or spreading our mission through word-of-mouth, we thank you. We couldn't have accomplished our goals without the help of supporters like you.
Our Future
Times change and yesterday's solution must evolve to meet the demands of the business environment as it exists today.
Businesses large and small must evolve to compete and in today's market Agile frameworks have become the primary solution to meet the challenges of a digital world.
The cutting edge of technology is moving swiftly in the wake of Covid -19 day-over-day and businesses must keep pace by continuously updating the way they want to grow. Remote work is now the standard rather than the exception.
In addition to tools and technologies, Project Management has shifted and the market has become Customer Centric requiring new approaches to delivering business growth solutions.
As professionals navigate the current economic conditions and seek to advance their career they need to embrace Continuous Learning and engage fully in sharpening their skills and deepening their knowledge in order to succeed.
AgileNow offers registered member team volunteers free training and hands-on experience in delivering successful business growth outcomes with a variety of Agile frameworks in exchange for 6-10 hours per week of volunteer commitment.
It's a great way to network, meet colleagues and participate in professional development activities.