kari bassett
Project Management consultant
Kari Bassett brings more than 20 years of IT experience to Blu Pagoda. The breadth of her work has been primarily with financial services companies in IT development, testing, support, documentation and business analysis. A self-described helper by nature, she is energized by solving problems and streamlining workloads through elegant, holistic solutions. She has worked extensively in the following methodologies: Agile (Kanban and Scrum), Waterfall, software development lifecycle, Rational UML, Gherkin, and test-driven development.
Most recently, Kari has managed a complex workstream on a $25M product launch. This consisted of 14 sub-tracks and included significant overlap with a second high-profile corporate initiative for a Blu Pagoda client. Prior to this, she was the lead business systems analyst at Berkley Technology Services, where she designed and implemented a process to better monitor, test and proactively address upstream system changes. This resulted in a significant decrease in production disruptions and provided stakeholders with a macro view focused on targeted, actionable information.
Kari earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Grinnell College and a master’s degree in business administration, technology management, from the University of Phoenix. She lives in West Des Moines, Iowa. When not working, she’s very active as a PTA board and committee member for her children’s school and the Ethnicity in Iowa project. Kari is also the founder and president of the Black History Research Collective, a nonprofit organization focused on securing historic recognition for Black Churches.