Boyer & Associates is pleased to announce Layla Doctor as our newest Microsoft Dynamics project manager. From Y2K programming to ERP to CRM, Doctor has the perfect mix of experience for her new position.
Doctor graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 1996. Shortly after, she emigrated from the Philippines when she landed a job as a programmer prepping U.S. systems for Y2K. She did well, but the stress of constantly thinking about codes and bugs – even in her off time – prompted her to look for a different IT role.
She took a job doing app support for New Jersey-based ADP. At the same time, she enrolled into a master’s program for project management at DeVry University in Illinois. She thoroughly enjoyed her classes and decided that project management would be her ultimate goal.
First, though, she determined to learn software implementation to have a better foundation for her dream job. A position with ADP opened up in Chicago, so she made the transition to the client-facing implementation role.
After nearly four years at ADP, she spent another five years at a small company that implemented Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) for governmental forensics departments. Looking to broaden her skill set, she moved to Microsoft provider RSM to become a Microsoft Dynamics GP consultant.
“I wanted to be more marketable in my skills,” Doctor said. I wanted to do ERP because ERP is everywhere.”
She worked for eight years at RSM, where she met and worked for Sue Laux-Maede, a senior consultant who has since moved to Boyer. The two worked together on multiple GP implementations before Laux-Maede moved to California.
In 2016, Doctor made another transition, again broadening her skills and versatility.
“I switched to Dynamics CRM because I felt it was more general and I could apply it to a more wide range of applications,” she said. She found herself working in the public sector again. This time she supported governmental agencies that needed systems in place to run their Health and Human Service (HHS) programs.
“That’s where my passion is, in the public sector,” Doctor said. She enjoyed working in IT but also making a difference in society.
She’s proudest of implementations that served an agency doing good in their community. For example, she implemented a field service system that tracked a program for youth mowing lawns for senior citizens in a low-income neighborhood.
Another implementation supported a program focused on helping black youth in the juvenile system set and meet life goals to change their future. That project received a Microsoft award nomination.
“When you’re implementing a system you’re helping them do their job, which their job is very important when they’re working with nonprofits.”
Layla Doctor, new project manager
Shortly after she lost her job earlier this year in a wave of workforce reduction, she saw a LinkedIn post from Laux-Maede that Boyer was hiring. Boyer’s large nonprofit client base intrigued her, as did the idea of working with her former mentor again.
The nonprofit-minded company wanted someone with both ERP and CRM experience who could also do project management. There was no hesitation in Doctor’s decision. It was exactly the type of job she wanted and had trained to get.
“I trust Sue a lot. I know I’m going to be in good hands. It’s going to be a good place for me,” Doctor said. At Boyer, Doctor is a Microsoft Dynamics project manager focused on both ERP and CRM.
She’s excited to transition to a project manager role and support the systems of organizations focused on the greater good.
“When you’re implementing a system you’re helping them do their job, which their job is very important when they’re working with nonprofits,” she said. “It’s not just all about making money and being billable.”
When she’s not working, Doctor loves to travel. She has traveled from coast to coast and in between, stopping at least half the states in the U.S. She especially loves the never-ending options of things to do in Las Vegas, as well as the beauty of Lake Tahoe and Napa Valley.
Doctor and her husband, Mario, married in 2008 and have two children. Maggie, 13, loves math, taking after her accountant-minded father. Nine-year-old Malin is more like her mother, creative, precise and decisive. Doctor travels less these days, in large part so that she can make her daughters’ ballet recitals, Girl Scout meetings and various sporting events.
Whenever they get a free evening, she enjoys spending time with good friends over wine and cheese. Doctor is a bit of a foodie and loves checking out the latest new restaurants in the greater Chicago area, especially any with a good Mediterranean menu.
