Dr. Cynthia J. Young, Founder/CEO
,knowlDr. Cynthia J. Young, PMP, LSS MBB, CMQ-OE is the founder of CJ Young Consulting, LLC, a knowledge management consulting firm in Chesapeake, VA. Dr. Young is also a retired Surface Warfare Officer with 23 years in the U.S. Navy and Theater Mission Planning Center curriculum developer and instructor with Leidos, a defense contracting company.
Dr. Young holds various professional certifications:
- Project Management Professional
- Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt
- ASQ-Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence.
She holds several accredited degrees:
- Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English Language and Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park
- Two Masters of Business Administration (MBA), one in e-commerce and one in advanced management studies, from Trident University International
- Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) in Project Management from Walden University. Her doctoral study, Knowledge Management and Innovation on Firm Performance of United States Ship Repair, provided her the opportunity to gain additional professional and academic expertise to facilitate improvements in organizational knowledge management.
Dr. Young enjoys speaking at knowledge management, operational excellence, and process improvement conferences with heart-centric knowledge management as a primary element in her presentations.
She spoke (virtually) for TEDxBeaconStreet, A Knowledge Mindset: What You Know Comes from Where You Sit.
She is also the author of three chapters in The Refractive Thinker® series:
Chapter 3: Using Leadership to Improve Firm Performance Through Knowledge Management from The Refractive Thinker®: Volume XI: Women in Leadership (2016)
Chapter 4: Ensuring Prosperous Knowledge Flow from the Silent Generation Through Generation Z from The Refractive Thinker® Vol XVII: Managing a Cultural Workforce: The Impact of Global Employees (2019)
Chapter 4: Preventing Wastes of Project Costs and Schedules Using Purposeful Knowledge Management from The Refractive Thinker®: Volume XVIII: Project Management: Strategies to Enhance Workflow and Productivity (2020)
Read more about Cynthia’s experience on her LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/in/drcindyyoung/.
Contributor to Articles in the Following Publications
Dr. Young has published numerous articles specializing in knowledge management and business.
- Seating Solution: An Education Learned by Doing with the Audience in Mind, Lean & Six Sigma Review, 15-17, February 2021
- Knowledge Management and the Shingo Guiding Principles: Part 2: Continuous Improvement, The Lean Mag, 6, 4-7, February 2021
- Knowledge Management and the Shingo Guiding Principles: Part 1: Cultural Enablers – The Lean Mag, 5, 28-29, November 2020
- Doctors Appointments, Extreme Disappointment, and Gemba Walks – Oh My! – Women in Lean (WiL) Mag,1, 8-10, November 2020
- Knowledge Management in the Age of Remote Work – Source for SHRM, 25 September 2020
- Learning to Share – The Lean Mag, 4,, 25-26, August 2020
- Starting Your First Job Remotely? Here Are the Real Skills You Need to Learn – Harvard Business Review (HBR) Ascend, July 27, 2020
- Discovering Knowledge Management to Combat the Eight Wastes of Lean – Cost Management, 11-14, July/August 2020
- Implementing Knowledge Management Practices – The Human Element, 14(2), 2-3, June 19, 2020
- I Wasn’t Told” and Other Excuses You Need to Stop Making at Work – Harvard Business Review (HBR), June 8, 2020
- Improving Processes in the Navy and Beyond: Veteran’s Career Path was Buoyed by Support from a Female Commander – Industrial and Systems Engineering at Work Magazine, 52(6), 33-34, June 2020
- Knowledge Puzzles – The Lean Mag, 3, 4-6, May 2020
- Leaders Must Conquer Remote Workers’ Guilt in Order to Maintain Their Teams – Thrive Global, April 29, 2020
- The Case for Learning from More Experienced Colleagues – Harvard Business Review (HBR) Ascend, April 15, 2020
- How to Make the Most of Your First Speaking Gig as an Alumnus – Harvard Business Review (HBR) Ascend, April 2, 2020
- Highlighted in the Celebrating Women in Project Management Series – Elise Stevens – February 2020
- What a DBA Degree Is and Why You Might Want One | Top Business Schools | US News – Contributor to US News and World Report, January 27, 2020
- Mind Mapping in 6 Simple Steps for Business Development – Industrial and Systems Engineering at Work Magazine, 51(12), 34-38, December 2019
- What is Knowledge Management and Why is It Important? – Contributor to Upjourney, November 19, 2019
- In the Spotlight: Meet Dr. Cynthia J. Young, Educator and Author – RHG Magazine & TV Guide, October 2019
- Empowering Your Employees with Knowledge Management to Improve Your Firm Performance – Contributor to Virginia Ship Repair Association The Eight O’Clock Report Newsletter
- Experts Decipher People vs. Process: Where Should Your Focus Be? – Contributor to the Process Excellence Network/OPEX Summer, August 2018
- BTOES EXCLUSIVE SLIDE DECK: Best Practices for Merging Business Strategy and Business Transformation – Slide deck from BTOES 2018 Conference
- Knowledge Management and Innovation on Firm Performance of United States Ship Repair – Dissertation
- TTGL instructor addresses national conference | News | militarynews.com – Contributor to The Flagship
- Cindy Butler, Instructor, Mentor, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, U.S. Navy – Featured in ASQ Six Sigma Forum
Blogs on Medium.com
- My TEDx Talk: Here’s How You Can Make One, Too – March 6, 2021
- How a Tactical Silence Can Help You Succeed at Work – May 11, 2020
- Trusting Your Gut When It Comes to LinkedIn Connections – February 27, 2020
- One Week Into 2020 – January 6, 2020
- Five Ways to Protect Yourself from a Layoff Using Knowledge Management – December 31, 2019
Privileged to be a Speaker for the Following Organizers:
2021:
- March: Saving time and money by adding value through purposeful knowledge management. Presentation for American Quality Institute’s 2021 Lean and Six Sigma World Conference.
2020:
- December: Conversations to identify and improve your organizational knowledge management. Presentation to V-Veer.
- November: Knowledge puzzles: Inspiring a problem-solving mindset. Presentation for KM World 2020.
- October: Knowledge mapping takes the guesswork out of finding knowledge. Presentation for Engineering Lean and Six Sigma Conference.
- October: Guest speaker on Marie Incontrera’s Coffee with Entrepreneurs Live!.
- October: Connecting the knowledge dots through hashtags. Webinar for Knowledge Management Institute.
- September: A knowledge mindset: What you know comes from where you sit. TEDxBeaconStreet
- August: How Army soldiers can advance their careers with green belt training & certification. Panelist for webinar on Goleansixsigma.com
- August: Combating the eight wastes of lean using a knowledge management mindset. Webinar for ASQ Raleigh Six Sigma Special Interest Group
- August: Panel member – Mastering operational excellence (OPEX) fundamentals: Leading business transformation & building teams. Panelist for OPEX Summer Summit 2020
- May: Knowledge management and innovation on firm performance of United States ship repair. Webinar for ASQ Hampton Roads Section 1114 and ASQ Tidewater Section 1128
- March: Securing explicit and tacit knowledge: How to ensure knowledge is not lost once your project closes. Presentation for Knowledge Management Institute’s KM Showcase 2020, Arlington, VA
- January: Using mind mapping in support of more robust business development. Presentation for Operational Excellence (OPEX) Week: Business Transformation World Summit 2020, Orlando, FL
2019:
- March: Hierarchy vs. teamwork: Ensuring your team is set up for success. Presentation for American Quality Institute’s Lean and Six Sigma World Conference, San Antonio, TX
- February: Masters of Strategy! Workshop, Facilitator for the Professional Development Consortium of Hampton Roads, Norfolk, VA
2018:
- October: Employee empowerment: Using military tools to support your organizational culture. Webinar for ASQ Blue Ridge Section 1108
- September: Baby’s first Kanban and other educational Lean Six Sigma tools. Presentation for the 2018 Engineering Lean and Six Sigma Conference, Atlanta, GA
- August: Employee empowerment: Using military tools to support your organizational culture. Presentation for Operational Excellence Summer Business Transformation and Leaders Summit (OPEX Summer Summit 2018), San Diego, CA
- March: Best practices for merging business strategy and business transformation. Presentation for Business Transformation and Operational Excellence Summit (BTOES 18), Orlando, FL
2017:
- April: Conversations with your customers to improve your organizational knowledge management. Webinar for ASQ Blue Ridge Section 1108
- March: Conversations with your customers to improve your organizational knowledge management. Presentation for American Quality Institute’s Lean and Six Sigma World Conference, Nashville, TN
2016:
- November: Managing knowledge through conversation. Presentation for Knowledge Management World (KMWorld) 2016, Washington, DC
- September: Managing knowledge through conversation to support your bottom line. Presentation and paper for the 2016 Fleet Maintenance and Modernization Symposium, Hampton, VA
2013:
- October: Quality tools in action. Presentation/co-facilitator for the Sentara Healthcare Quality Lab Workshop, Williamsburg, VA
2011:
- February Growing Six Sigma without sacrificing requirements. Presentation for 2011 ASQ Lean and Six Sigma Conference, Phoenix, AZ