How do you lead a local professional development workshop from across the globe?
More than 8,000 miles separate Arizona State University from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But distance wasn’t a barrier when it came to helping engineers, architects and project managers build the skills needed to deliver the country’s next generation of infrastructure projects.
In early 2026, Pitchiah “Dr. Pitch” Balasubramanian — an internationally recognized project management expert and assistant teaching professor in ASU’s School of Applied Professional Studies, part of the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts — led a five-day virtual workshop designed around real construction challenges in the DRC. Instead of bringing participants or instructors across continents, ASU paired live virtual instruction from Arizona with on-the-ground facilitation in Kinshasa, creating a model that delivered advanced professional training without the cost or logistical barriers of international travel.
Building a model for global learning
The workshop began with an idea from Levi Kogenago Mokogenegale, a building and public works engineer in the DRC and alumnus of the 2025 Mandela Washington Fellowship hosted at ASU’s Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. As infrastructure development accelerates across the DRC, he saw firsthand the growing need for project managers equipped to lead increasingly complex construction projects, keeping them on schedule, within budget and safely coordinated. After returning home from ASU, he wanted to make advanced project management training more accessible to professionals in the country by removing common barriers like travel costs.
Working together through a Reciprocal Exchange Mandela Washington Fellowship grant, Mokogenegale and Balasubramanian created a hybrid model: participants gathered in Kinshasa while Balasubramanian delivered the instruction live from Arizona. Mokogenegale coordinated the local program and provided real-time translation into French — the DRC’s official language — throughout the sessions.
The hybrid format allowed participants to learn together in person while benefiting from expertise that otherwise may not have been readily accessible.
Turning lessons into action
Rather than focusing only on theory, Balasubramanian built the workshop around active problem-solving and application of industry principles. Participants analyzed recent infrastructure projects in the DRC — including road rehabilitation efforts and community infrastructure initiatives under the country’s Local Development Program for the 145 Territories — before working in teams to develop complete Project Execution Packs they could adapt for projects within their own organizations.
Each team created key project management documents, including work breakdown structures, project schedules, risk registers, stakeholder communication plans and cost tracking plans, while tackling the kinds of challenges they regularly encounter on the job, from procurement delays and scope changes to permitting and resource constraints.
“The sessions were highly practical,” Mokogenegale said after the event, “so much so that many participants said the examples felt ‘local’ and immediately applicable to real projects in the DRC.”
Participants also applied project management tools to challenges they were facing within their organizations, such as schedule delays, inadequate planning, cost escalation and communication gaps among project owners, contractors, consultants and government agencies.
Meeting a growing workforce need
The workshop’s enthusiastic reception underscored a broader workforce trend. As infrastructure development accelerates across the DRC — including efforts to address an estimated three-million-unit housing shortage — organizations are increasingly looking for professionals who can successfully manage complex builds across the full project lifecycle.
“The DRC construction industry is growing rapidly, but many professionals have limited access to hands-on project management training,” Balasubramanian said. “The strong participation and postive feedback reinforced the importance of building project management skills to support better project delivery and infrastructure development in the DRC.”
For Balasubramanian, whose three decades of experience span engineering, banking financial services and insurance, manufacturing, transportation, healthcare consulting and project management, the workshop also demonstrated how universities can expand their impact beyond the classroom.
“By strengthening local project management capabilities, we hope to contribute to better project outcomes, stronger infrastructure delivery and continued professional development within the industry,” he said.
Expanding the model
The workshop built on Balasubramanian’s broader work at ASU supporting workforce development, sustainability-focused project management training, engineering leadership programs and STEM initiatives — all aimed at helping professionals improve project delivery, leadership skills and organizational performance through hands-on learning.
Following the program’s success, he is seeking additional funding through the Mandela Washington Fellowship’s American Impact Awards to expand the initiative, with plans for advanced workshops, local facilitator training, mentoring programs for project professionals and French-language resources.
While Balasubramanian hopes to expand the program in the future, participants are already putting what they learned to work — returning to their organizations with new professional connections, practical project management strategies and tools to help deliver the critical infrastructure projects their communities depend on.
The School of Applied Professional Studies is proud to provide education to students all over the world, but it is the hands-on learning experiences right here in Arizona that can benefit from donations. If you are passionate about supporting the project management professionals of tomorrow, make a gift to the Applied Professional Student Success Fund.