About

TRENT WAKENIGHT

SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER, STRATEGY FACILITATOR AND CHANGE CONSULTANT

trent.wakenight@markerninja.com / 517.256.1599 / Pacifica, CA

Resourceful and driven project manager and professional facilitator with more than 20 years’ experience leading and supporting complex, multi-domain projects. Entrepreneurial, ambitious innovator and problem-solver who thrives in ambiguity and tackling hard challenges. Established reputation as a ‘go-to’ for strategy creation, executive communications, and design thinking workshops with leadership teams, middle managers, and users and customers.

Key Skills and Competencies

● Project Management                             ● Design Thinking                          ● Strategy Development and Execution

● Professional Facilitator                           ● Strategic Communication               ● Executive and User Engagement Design

● Change Management                           ● Concept Visualization                    ● Graphic Design and Video Design

Relevant Experience

Strategy, Visioning and Team Development Consultant, and Graphic Facilitation and Graphic Recording at Blue Beyond Consulting, 04/2022 - Present

Delivering strategy and visioning workshops and projects through visual meeting techniques and full group engagement to drive toward future-leaning outcomes.

Senior Consultant at The Grove Consultants International, 04/2021 - 04/2022

Strategy and team performance facilitator for multiple clients driving change management, team-building, and vision and strategy development.

Senior Technical Consultant at Parsons Corporation, 01/2019 – 04/2021

  • Strategy and team performance facilitator for multiple clients driving UI and IT tool development, information-sharing, and change processes impacting U.S. government agencies, commercial partners, 40,000+ employees, and 17 U.S.-partner nations.
  • Project lead, design thinking workshop convener, and author and contributor for Parsons Corporation’s global strategies in aviation, inclusion and diversity, insider threat, missile defense, national defense, recruiting and hiring, space, and transportation infrastructure.
  • Awarded nine sole-source government contracts or supplemental funding in two years.
  • Member of the Parsons Inclusion and Diversity Council and Communications Team.

Founder of Marker Ninja, LLC Facilitation and Design Services, 5/2009 – Present

  • Strategy creation, team building, graphic recording, and white-board video services.

Senior Facilitator and Strategy Consultant at OGSystems, 09/2014 – January 2019

  • Established a facilitation, project management, and strategic consulting team, and was lead for projects at seven Federal agencies focused on systems engineering.
  • Managed user-driven requirements for SaaS and systems engineering projects.
  • Built communication strategies, graphics, and videos for complex engineering concepts.
  • Wrote a curriculum for design thinking, project management, and consultative sales.

Business Systems Specialist at Accenture Company, 11/2013 – 09/2014

  • Led outreach and evaluation for an electronic records system for 9,000 employees.

Management Consultant and Communication Specialist at LMI, 09/2009 – 11/2013

  • Established LMI’s change management methodology and workforce curriculum.
  • STEM workforce planning project manager at two U.S. Federal agencies.
  • Led a project team of 50+ in creating the Department of Defense STEM Education Plan.
  • Co-author and instructor of a data visualization course.

Project Manager at Michigan State University, 12/2007 – 08/2009

  • Developed global initiatives for a public-private sector pandemic mitigation program.
  • Led a grant program for under-served populations in North and South America.
  • Web consultation lead to an online Master’s degree program for working professionals.

Visiting Scholar to U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 06/2006 – 12/2007                               

Educational Program Coordinator at Michigan State University, 04/2002 – 06/2006

Marketing Consultant and Sales at Image Builders Unlimited, 09/1998 – 08/2000

Program Support at the University of Michigan, 8/1997 – 9/1998

English Teacher and Consultant to Japan National Government, 07/1994 – 8/1997

Education

  • M.A., Public Relations, Michigan State University, 2004
  • B.A., Communication, Hope College, 1993

Certifications

  • IAF Certified Professional Facilitator
  • SAFe Agile Certification
  • Grove Strategic Visioning  

Certification

  • Grove Team Performance  

Model Certification

  • LEGO Serious Play Master Facilitator

Training includes:

  • LUMA Design Thinking
  • XPLANE Design Thinking
  • Project Mngt. Professional (PMP) training
  • User-centered design
  • Appreciative Inquiry

Professional Affiliations

  • International Forum for Visual Practitioners

Computer / Software Skills

  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Mural, Conceptboard
  • Videoscribe video software

Security Clearance

  • Top Secret / SCI with Full Scope Poly

Clients include:

Accenture, BASF, Disney Imagineering, Institute for the Future, KPMG, Mars Inc., Oak Ridge National Laboratories, SAP, The Grove, University of California, U.S. Government, World Bank, World Vision.

Services

Graphic facilitation, Graphic recording, Facilitation, Digital recording, Digital graphic recording, Whiteboard animation, Whiteboard video, Video production, Change management, Organizational change, Project management, Program management, Strategy development, Vision development, Mission development, RACI, Strategic communication, Technical writing, Professional writing, Graphic design, Placemat design, Storyboarding, Brainstorming, Decision making, Voiceover, Public speaking, PowerPoint creation, Public relations, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Adobe InDesign, Team Performance, Team Building, Design Thinking, Lean Start-up, LEGO Serious Play, Strategic Communications, Team development

Specialities

Graphic facilitation, Graphic recording, Team Performance, Government, Project management, Strategic communication, Video