Vibrant Publishers Releases a Practical Stakeholder Management Guide for Today’s Project Leaders
Authored by Michelle Bartonico, the book shows how stakeholder engagement can shape stronger project delivery and lasting adoption.
Broomfield, Colorado, June 25, 2026 - Vibrant Publishers announces the release of Stakeholder Management for Project Managers, a practitioner-focused guide by Michelle Bartonico, a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and PROSCI-certified change practitioner with nearly two decades of experience across higher education, marketing, project management, and organizational change.
Available now in paperback, hardback, and e-book formats, the book addresses one of the most important aspects of successful project delivery: engaging people meaningfully and effectively across every stage of a project.
Unlike traditional project management resources that treat stakeholder engagement as a procedural checklist, this book approaches it as a discipline in its own right — one that combines structure, communication, empathy, and strategic decision-making. Readers walk away not only with a functional understanding of stakeholder management frameworks but with a personalized playbook they can apply to any project, in any industry, at any level of an organization.
Bartonico's professional experience grounds every chapter in real-world complexity. During her tenure leading enterprise initiatives at Trinity University — an institution with a $2 billion endowment — she oversaw the creation of the University's first Enterprise Project Portfolio Management Office, achieved a 90% voluntary adoption rate on a multi-million-dollar digital transformation program, and led organizational change for a full ERP migration. She has presented on stakeholder and project management at national conferences and brings that practitioner depth to every page of this book.
The book's eight chapters progress through the complete stakeholder engagement journey: foundational theory and principles, stakeholder identification, mapping and analysis tools, engagement and communications planning, empathy and active listening, team selection, monitoring and managing stakeholders, and organizational change management. Each chapter features end-of-chapter summaries, quizzes, and scenario-based learning to reinforce key concepts.
Readers also receive access to a suite of downloadable resources — a Project Charter, RACI Chart, Stakeholder Engagement Plan Chart, and two Stakeholder Register templates — enabling immediate application from the first day of their next project.
Among the standout features of the book is its final chapter on organizational change management, which introduces readers to frameworks including ADKAR, Kotter's 8-Step Model, and the change curve — providing practical guidance on how to assess change readiness, respond to stakeholder signals, and sustain adoption well beyond a project's close.
Early readers have noted the book’s accessibility, relevance, and practical value. Michaela Lindsay, Founder of Savvy Investher Society, describes it as “a compelling, must-have guide for leaders,” noting that stakeholder engagement is often overlooked despite being fundamental to successful business and community initiatives.
Harry Hirsch, Digital Transformation Leader and Workday Program Manager, highlights the book’s usefulness as an ongoing reference for complex projects, calling it “extensive, insightful, and very relevant to modern-day people-centric project management.” He adds that the book has become “a useful tool” in his program management toolkit.
Stakeholder Management for Project Managers is designed for project managers, program and portfolio managers, business analysts, delivery leads, product owners, organizational change management professionals, account executives, client partners, and any professional responsible for leading people through projects and organizational change.
As part of Vibrant Publishers’ Self-Learning Management Series, the book reflects the series’ commitment to practical, self-paced learning for professionals seeking to grow their business, leadership, and management capabilities.
Michelle Bartonico, the author of Stakeholder Management for Project Managers
About the Author
Michelle Bartonico, PMP and PROSCI-certified, brings nearly 20 years of experience leading projects, teams, and enterprise initiatives in higher education and marketing agencies. At Trinity University, she serves as a strategic advisor and leads initiatives in project portfolio management, digital transformation, strategic marketing, alumni engagement, and organizational change, guiding leadership and teams to deliver measurable results.
About the Self-Learning Management Series
The Self-Learning Management Series is designed to address every aspect of business and help new managers, career switchers, and entrepreneurs learn essential management lessons. Each book contains fundamentals, important concepts, and standard and well-known principles, as well as practical ways of application of the subject matter, in a compact format that is very easy to interpret.
About Vibrant Publishers
Vibrant Publishers is a Colorado-based book publishing house founded in 2001 that focuses on publishing high-quality books for entrepreneurs, IT professionals, management professionals, and graduate students. Vibrant Publishers has redefined the way in which rich content can be made available to today's fast-paced generation. This new generation's need-to-know-now attitude and a highly competitive business environment have triggered this series of books with ‘just the essential information’. Vibrant Publishers is committed to publishing books that are content-rich, concise, and approachable, enabling more people to read and benefit from them.
Title: Stakeholder Management for Project Managers
Publisher: Vibrant Publishers
ISBN: Paperback - 9781636516905
Hardback - 9781636516929
E-Book - 9781636516912
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Media Contact:
Sales, PR, and Marketing
Deep Udeshi
3621 Harvard Pl Broomfield, CO 80023
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reachus@vibrantpublishers.com
