"A colleague of mine had taken courses in the Stanford Advanced Project Management certificate program and thought they were chock full of very practical techniques that could be applied immediately," says Shanon Loftus, Senior Project Manager, Blue Shield. "I decided to try out the classes for myself and now I definitely have more tricks up my sleeve that help me in my project work."

Loftus is a Stanford Certified Project Manager who started taking courses in the program because she found them of value to her job. Before she knew it, she had fulfilled the certification requirements. "The highlights of my classes were the stories from the professors and fellow students about the strategies they had applied to challenges and the outcomes," explains Loftus. "I also enjoyed taking courses on the Stanford campus which provided a rich learning experience because of the dialogue and healthy debate among professors and students. Being on campus also provided me with the opportunity to make networking connections with project management peers at other companies."

Loftus has an MBA and MPH from UC Berkeley, and says, "I am always learning more and I have heard great things about the classes in the program that I haven't taken yet. As my schedule permits, I will continue to enroll in courses."