Meet our CEO and Founder

Yamile Jackson, PhD, PE, PMP

A native of Bogotá, Colombia, Yamile immigrated to the US in 1988 to pursue her PhD in industrial engineering with concentration in ergonomics and human factors engineering. Since 2001 she has applied ergonomics, engineering and technology, and parental intervention to develop products and services to provide newborns with proper development and maturation, and to ensure their effective inclusion into the family. She is a global leader and a strong advocate for humanizing the care of preemies with evidence-based developmentally supportive care, family-centered care, and Kangaroo Care.

All her work is on behalf of Zachary, her son, loving inspiration, and a survivor of extreme prematurity (see his story here). For her work and designs she has won over 17 awards and has been featured in international and domestic media.

Yamile is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in Texas, a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP), and a Certified Kangaroo Caregiver.

Before Nurtured by Design, Jackson worked for 8 years as a project engineer for Kværner and as a project controls engineer for Fluor Corporation in the US and England working in project management and controls from small ($2MM) in multi-projects environment to mega projects of several billion dollars for oil and gas customers.

In 1998 she founded Ringstones Consulting International Inc. and provided project management consulting and training (online and in-class), especializing in risk management, mostly in the oil and gas industry in the United States, Europe and Latin America. From 2003-2006 Yamile was a visiting lecturer of management at the University of Applied Sciences of Vorarlberg, Austria, where she taught 4 weeks a year. She has also been a visiting lecturer at numerous universities in the U.S. and Latin America.

Education
University of Houston (Houston, Texas): PhD Industrial Engineering (concentration: human factors and ergonomics) 2000
Clemson University (Clemson, South Carolina) MS Industrial Engineering 1995-96, 1999
University of Houston (Houston, Texas): MS Engineering Management 1994
University of Houston (Houston, Texas): BS Industrial Engineering 1991
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogota, Colombia) Industrial Engineering Studies 1985-1998

Professional Memberships and Activities

• Nominated, Board of Directors (Family Representative) NIDCAP Federation International (election Sept 29th, 2012)
• Board of Directors, March of Dimes Houston Division (since 2011)
• Bauer College of Business, University of Houston (Houston, Texas): Advisory Board Member, Leadership Consortium (2010)
• Mentor, National Association of Women MBAs - University of Houston Chapter since 2010
• Clemson University (Clemson, South Carolina): Advisory Board Member, Industrial Engineering Dept. since 2008
• Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital (Houston, Texas): Parent Advisory Board, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, since 2007
• Texas Children's Hospital (Houston, Texas): Family team member on the HFMEA (Healthcare Failure Modes and Effects Analysis Project). The project aimed to identify potential mistakes in the transition of care from hospital to home (specifically NICU to Ambulatory), make a proactive risk assessment, and develop a plan for improvement. (2008-2009)
• Texas Children's Hospital (Houston, Texas) - Participated as a Family Advisor on various hospital focus groups (2008-2010)
• Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Board of Directors. It is her distinct honor to be the first Latin American professional elected for the role of Director-at-Large. PMI is a non-for-profit, professional, and global organization dedicated to promote and advance the Project Management Profession.  With the Global Operation Center in the US, PMI counts with over 300,000 members in around 170 countries. (2005-2006)
• 2001-2004 Dr. Jackson was part of the research team (and co-authored) the "International Capital Projects Risk Assessment (IPRA)" of the Construction Industry Institute (CII). This tool identifies and describes the complex issues that are critical elements related to an international capital project, allowing the project team to focus on risk factors of potential concern. The IPRA is designed to facilitate risk assessment and to help address management of these concerns
• American Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) member since 1989 - senior member
• Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) member since 2006

Speaking Experience
Yamile has been a speaker at domestic and international conferences by the Construction Industry Institute (CII), the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), the International Society for Occupational Ergonomics and Safety (ISOES), March of Dimes, the Project Management Institute (PMI), the PMI Research Conference, and numerous universities. Equally important to her, she visits hospitals to educate mothers and caregivers of preemies about developmental care, family-centered care, and Kangaroo Care, and visits schools to inspire students to choose engineering as a profession.

Articles and Interviews of Note
Yamile’s personal and professional experience have been featured in the health and medical Reports of the Houston Chronicle, ABC, NBC, CBN, CBS, FOX, Univision, and BBC TV and Radio in Great Britain), as well as shows as the Rachel Ray Show, and various articles in publications such as Reader’s Digest (April 2002), the Institute of Industrial Engineers’ Magazine, the Houston Chronicle, the Washington Post, the Daily Mail (United Kingdom), MundoPM (Brazil), the TV documentary and special report "Healing from the Storm," which aired on CBS in June 2002, and the made-for-TV movie "14 Hours," which aired on TNT in April 2005. More>>

Other Activities
Yamile enjoys golf and photography and has traveled to over 45 countries. She lives to spend time with her family and friends, especially with her husband Larry, his daughters Jill, Steve, and Abby, and with Zachary (her son and loving inspiration).