THP 30: Maya Cuevas

Program: Project Management
Current Position: Company Officer, U.S. Navy
Hometown: Germantown, MD
LinkedIn: Maya Cuevas

What are the three most important skills for someone in your profession and why?

As a project manager, leadership skills are essential for properly managing an efficient project team. It is also important to have teamwork skills, as a project manager will be working not just with a project team, but stakeholders and sponsors. Finally, an important skill is to be able to properly manage time. Time management is paramount within project management and it is important for the project manager to ensure this balance.

What has been your most unique learning experience and why?

My most unique learning experience to date has been my time at the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard. I am a company officer in charge of 80 sailors recruited straight from boot camp. I am responsible for the overall training, safety, and resourcing of these sailors in order to maintain qualified teams for public ceremonies in the National Capital region and across the country. I have personally conducted over 80 funerals within the last year for fallen veterans at Arlington National Cemetery. This experience has been humbling, as it is not an easy job laying our nation’s veterans to rest with their grieving families looking on. However, I have grown a deeper sense of pride giving back to my country and helping teach those younger sailors what it means to give back to our country for everything it has given us.