Julie Chickering

Julie Chickering embodies the ideal of the servant leader. Beginning her career as a support agent at Sabre which was part of American Airlines and filled various other roles within development teams. She joined one of the company’s first Agile pilot programs and quickly became hooked on the power of agility to transform businesses. Completing her Scrum Master certification in 2005, just a few years later she was back at American Airlines — this time as Enterprise Agile Consultant. Today, she is an expert enterprise coach, in-demand Scrum trainer and Agile thought leader. Her story inspires course attendees in every class she teaches, and Julie is passionate about opening her students’ eyes to the possibilities of a future in Agile, no matter their current role.

Julie also holds a PMP certification, and her courses attract many Project Managers who are looking to transition to Scrum and Agile. She is also a past president and board member of the Agile Leadership Network (ALN), a global nonprofit dedicated to expanding the impact of Agile through community building.

Since her early days as an agilist, Julie has gone from strength to strength. She became an Agile coach within Sabre at Travelocity, and moved to Rally Software in 2008, into enterprise coaching and change management for the Fortune 500. Julie was fortunate to work with and be mentored by Jean Tabaka, Rally’s first Agile coach and author of “Collaboration Explained”.

“I believe in the art of the possible. Learning from Agile Manifesto signatory Jim Highsmith and other leaders in this space early in my career shaped what was possible for me. I hope I can pass on not just my knowledge, but my enthusiasm for learning and developing the world of Agile.

Not just interested in getting her course attendees to pass the exam, Julie offers coaching in each of her classes, so that attendees can learn practical lessons to apply in their workplaces. She strives to create a safe learning environment for all her students, so that they can feel comfortable asking questions, giving feedback, and “sharing the air”. Ultimately, her focus is on value: How can her students bring value now and in the future, and how should they think about value, regardless of the role they play in their team. As an enterprise coach, she can empathetically explain the “business why” for Scrum practices, and offer practical advice for implementing Scrum in large corporations where Waterfall is the norm.

The training was informative and interactive. She promoted class involvement and free discussion without fear of judgement by her or our fellow participants. Julie’s extensive experience helped her provide suggestions for how to handle challenges that the class participants experienced in their jobs. Her suggestions were helpful and practical.