Julie Chickering

Julie Chickering embodies the ideal of the servant leader: pragmatic, not dogmatic. As a Certified Scrum Trainer® (CST), Project Management Professional (PMP), PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), and Kanban University Accredited Kanban Trainer (AKT), Julie brings a rare combination of expertise across Scrum, Kanban, enterprise transformation, and project management. Having learned from many of Agile’s early thought leaders and coached executives, leaders, and teams across a variety of industries, she helps students understand not just the framework, but how Agile works within real organizations. She teaches Agile the way it was meant to be: as a pathway to business agility, not just framework compliance. The most important learning in her classes happens beyond the Scrum Guide and Agile Manifesto, in the space where real-world techniques, mindsets, and strategies enable true agility.

Julie began her career as a support agent at Sabre (part of American Airlines) before moving into development team roles. She joined one of the company’s first Agile pilot programs and quickly became hooked on agility’s power to transform businesses. After earning her ScrumMaster® certification in 2005, she returned to American Airlines as an Enterprise Agile Consultant. Since then, she’s built a career as an expert enterprise coach, in-demand trainer, and Agile thought leader.

With a strong background in traditional project management, Julie earned her PMP® certification early in her career and spent years leading complex projects using classical methodologies. She knows the strengths and limitations of waterfall approaches firsthand, which makes her uniquely relatable to project managers stepping into Agile. Her students often comment that Julie “speaks their language,” able to connect the dots between PMBOK-style planning and Agile practices in a way that feels practical and grounded. She also holds the PMI-ACP®, deepening her expertise across the full spectrum of project delivery approaches.

Her Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®) students don’t just pass the exam. Most crush it on the first try and leave with skills they can apply immediately. Her Certified Scrum Product Owner® (CSPO®) students learn to see Scrum through a business lens, focusing on practices that drive customer value and measurable impact. In her Scrum Better with Kanban (SBK) courses, Julie brings hybrid agility to life by showing teams how to layer proven Kanban practices like visualizing work, limiting work in progress, and managing flow on top of Scrum to reduce bottlenecks and improve predictability. In her Scrum for Project Managers class, designed by Julie for Scrum Alliance, she helps project managers translate their existing strengths into Agile environments and gives them practical tools to lead and deliver with confidence. One student summed it up best:

Julie’s command of the material is nothing short of breathtaking. She didn’t just teach; she dismantled the wall between theory and practice, revealing the hidden levers of team efficiency… with unmatched mastery, she guided us through an interactive learning journey that shattered old assumptions and replaced them with pragmatic, actionable insights.

Not just interested in getting her course attendees to pass the exam, Julie offers coaching in each of her classes so attendees can learn practical lessons to apply in their workplaces. She strives to create a safe learning environment where students feel comfortable asking questions, giving feedback, and “sharing the air.”

This is Julie’s style in every course: CSM®, CSPO®, Advanced CSM®, Scrum Better with Kanban, or Scrum for Project Managers. Whether students are learning Scrum foundations, evolving their product ownership mindset, bridging project management into Agile, or blending Kanban and Scrum, she creates interactive spaces where learners leave with practices they can apply right away.

Julie has helped shape Agile practices since 2004, bringing leadership experience across industries from Sabre and Travelocity to Rally Software and the Fortune 500. Her experience spans Agile transformation planning, organizational coaching, and helping leaders and teams navigate the realities of adopting new ways of working. Along the way, she was mentored by Agile pioneers such as Jean Tabaka and Jim Highsmith, lessons she now pays forward to her students.

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.

She also served as president and board member of the Agile Leadership Network (ALN), a global nonprofit dedicated to expanding Agile’s impact through community.

Julie’s mission is clear: ditch the dogma, fuel true agility, and turn Agile knowledge into business-changing results.