Andrea Baker

Director, Business Development

Dream Collaborative

Andrea Baker has 30 years’ experience in architecture/engineering professional services. She is focused on business development, branding and communications, and strategic planning for consulting firms. Her passion is design consulting, architecture, and civil and environmental engineering. While with a US-based A/E firm, Baker supported the transition to an initial public offering and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance in the role of business analyst. She has supported due diligence and integration for more than 16 mergers and acquisitions. Baker values diversity, whether in team composition or client portfolio, and has experience with private and government clients, in both business development and operations roles. She has developed technical, marketing, and training materials across media types, as well as coaching professional-services interview teams on pursuits valued at $30M. Baker is driven to make her clients successful.

Kathyann M. Cowles 

Architecture Principal, Member

KC Architects, LLC

Kathyann M. Cowles, AIA, NCARB, AAA, studied at Boston College and received her Architectural degree from Pratt Institute. As an architect with over 35 years’ experience for diverse and complex design and construction projects, Cowles has a unique perspective on the multi-faceted issues facing today’s construction teams. She represents the interests of owners, designers, and contractors in complex science/technology, academic, industrial, manufacturing, civic and corporate projects, in the public and private sectors. Co-editor/author of “The Future of the Design and Construction Industry,” Cowles was awarded the 2018 Construction Institutes “Distinguished Achievement Award” for contributions to the advancement of the regions design, construction, and facilities communities.” A recipient of a 2018 “Higginbotham Fellowship” to study Alternative Dispute Resolution, she is now an active Member of the American Arbitration Panel, and a certified mediator, focusing on issues facing the AEC Industry.

Carolina Cudemus-Jones

Director, Design and Construction Management

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Mireya “Carolina” Cudemus-Jones is the Director for Design and Construction Management for the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Cudemus-Jones has over 20 years of experience in complex private and public commercial construction projects including healthcare, higher education and K-12 schools. Prior to joining UMass – Amherst, she served as a Pre-Construction Executive with Gilbane Building Company. Her responsibilities included her assignment as Deputy Director of a $1.7 billion School Reconstruction Program and Preconstruction Manager for the University of Connecticut as well as direct on-site construction management. Cudemus-Jones holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration. She is also a certified Design Build Institute of America Associate, a 2016 American Arbitration Association Higginbotham Fellow, and was recognized by the Connecticut Association of General Contractors as the 2016 Project Manager of the Year. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Construction Institute, and is actively involved with the Connecticut Professional Women in Construction.

Linda Konrath

Director

HKA

Linda Konrath has more than 20 years of experience in the engineering and construction industry, leading or participating in engagements entailing contract and procurement advisory services, performance audits and process improvement studies, and research and training, with an emphasis on risk management, claims avoidance, performance specifications, and alternative contract delivery methods. Konrath has helped owners with large-scale capital programs assess and improve their project governance and performance through the development and implementation of enhanced policies and procedures, standardization of contract documents and templates, and clarification of roles and responsibilities across functional units.

Dawn Monde

Senior Vice President of Client Services

Red Thread

As Senior Vice President of Client Services for Red Thread, Dawn Monde is a leader in the commercial interiors industry, helping customers solve today’s workplace challenges. Her daily responsibilities include the leadership and mentoring of the Red Thread Sales and Design teams in multiple locations throughout Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. With a commitment to continuous improvement, Monde leverages her 35 years of experience in sales, design, project management, and client services to create solutions that positively impact the future of work. Monde works closely with Red Thread’s clients in corporate, education and healthcare to understand complex business issues, connecting high-level strategy to the tactical solutions that ultimately drive success. Her creativity, relentless pursuit of customer satisfaction and strong focus on process performance are exhibited by her tenacious problem-solving skills. She values lifelong learning and giving back to the profession by being active in professional organizations like CoreNet, the MetroHartford Alliance, and the Construction Institute. In recent months Monde has been intensely focused on the impact the pandemic has had on how we will work in a post covid workplace - exploring the role space and technology will play in supporting distributed teams, employee safety, wellbeing, and equity. 

Joe Wargo

Senior Managing Consultant

Helbling & Associates

Joe Wargo has been a Senior Managing Consultant with Helbling since 2006. His recruitment experience is broad, having completed searches for A/E/C firms, general and specialty contractors, healthcare and higher education institutions, independent schools, and non-profit entities. Within the construction realm, he attracts professionals for roles within senior executive management, regional management, operations, finance, and business development. Wargo holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance from Robert Morris University. In representing diverse clientele, he has gained a valuable knowledge of recruitment and an appreciation for both the client and candidate perspectives.

Nancy Greenwald

Executive Director

Construction Institute

Nancy Greenwald has 38 years of experience a lawyer and business executive in the design and construction industry, dealing with projects ranging in value from $100,000 to $5 billion. She is the Executive Director of the Construction Institute, a non-partisan association of diverse professions working to improve the construction industry by sharing knowledge, exchanging innovative ideas, building relationships, and developing business leaders. Its mission is to promote cross-industry collaboration. Greenwald serves on the American Arbitration Association's Commercial and Construction Industry Panels of Arbitrators and Mediators and has been appointed as a n arbitrator and mediator by numerous private clients and courts. She teaches negotiation and conflict resolution and speaks and writes frequently on best practices in construction project communication, dispute systems design, and construction technology and the law. She is active in many of the major construction industry groups, including the ABA Forum on Construction, serving on the steering committee for the Project Delivery and Technology Division. She received her J.D. from Harvard Law School (cum laude) 1981.

Denise Berger

Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer

AECOM, East Region DCS

Denise M. Berger, FAIA, who recently joined AECOM in February 2020, is the Chief Strategy and Information Officer for the U.S. East Region and LATHAM. Her responsibilities include driving strategy, growth and execution on Key Accounts, Digital Transformation, ESG and Strategic Marketing across the business lines in the region: Transportation, Water, Building + Places, Environment, and Project and Program Management. A results-oriented leader with more than 30-years of experience in transportation and infrastructure, Berger was the former chief of operations for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In this capacity, she was responsible for a $1.3B annual budget and the delivery of the agency’s $37B ten-year capital plan. A champion of diversity and inclusion, Berger serves on several industry boards including the Construction Institute’s Woman Who Build Summit; Columbia University’s Diversity & Inclusion Task Force; Professional Women in Construction; WTS International Board; ACE Mentor Program of Greater NY; SAME; and the NY Women’s Builder’s Council. Her innovative D&I policies and programs have produced notable outcomes, including the launch of the PANYNJ Women’s Council and in 2019, she was named WTS Woman of the Year.

Laura Cruickshank

Associate Vice President, Master Planner & Chief Architect

University of Connecticut

Laura A, Cruickshank, FAIA, the University of Connecticut’s Master Planner and Chief Architect and Associate Vice President for University Planning, Design & Construction, is responsible for the immediate and long-range planning, design and construction of UConn’s $2B Capital Plan for Storrs, the Regional Campuses and Law School. Prior to UConn, Cruickshank was the Yale University Planner and directed planning and design on the Yale central campus; and led Yale planning, design and construction for the Yale-NUS College in Singapore. Prior to Yale, she was in private practice for over twenty years. Cruickshank received a Bachelor of Arts from Mount Holyoke College and Master of Architecture from the University of New Mexico School of Architecture & Planning. She holds architectural registration in Connecticut and is an elected member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects, the Society for College and University Planning, the Association of University Architects and the National Organization of Minority Architects. 

Gregory Faulkner

Partner

Robinson & Cole LLP

Gregory Faulkner is a partner at Robinson & Cole LLP, former Chair of the Construction Practice Group, and has served as local, national, and international counsel in all aspects of construction law for more than 30 years. Faulkner delivers a full-service approach to his practice, including selection of project delivery, preparation of bid documents, requests for proposals and qualifications, contract drafting, and negotiations. He also handles litigation in federal and state courts, as well as arbitration and mediation of all types of disputes. Faulkner is a longtime member of the commercial and construction panel of neutrals for both the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and the American Dispute Resolution Center, Inc. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America© in the area of Construction Law and Litigation – Construction, and he has been selected each year to the Connecticut Super Lawyers list since 2006.

Caroline Fitzgerald

Northeast Business Development Leader

RMF Engineering, Inc.

A structural engineer by background, Caroline Fitzgerald, PE has a passion for great design; she will take planes, trains and automobiles to see an iconic piece of architecture. Fitzgerald’s career began with great opportunities to design complex and award-winning projects, including the addition to the Science Center at Harvard and the Wang Campus Center at Wellesley College. In her current role as the Northeast Client Relations Leader for RMF Engineering, she is focused on connecting her talented colleagues to the owners, design partners, and consultants that will best serve our clients. Fitzgerald is especially proud of the large network of women professionals that she has cultivated throughout her career and always looks for ways to collaborate with and support them.

Petina Killiany 

Senior Vice President 

Arcadis

Petina Killiany is a Senior Vice President with Arcadis, a global design and consultancy firm which operates in four Business Lines; Water, Infrastructure, Buildings and Environment. She is the Program Management/Construction Management (PMCM) Operations Director nationally for the Infrastructure/Buildings Business Lines in North America. While Arcadis has four Business Lines, Killiany and her peers are encouraged to collaborate and work across all Business Lines which can be mutually beneficial for clients and Arcadis alike. Her responsibilities include; Performance in regard to the company’s and her operations P&L, Client Development/company growth, and People, identifying, hiring, mentoring and retaining our people. Killiany has more than 30 years’ experience in the AEC industry, of which the first half was in the architectural field, and the last half in the PMCM industry. She lives in Cazenovia, NY, but can be found on most days in an airport or in one of Arcadis’ 148 offices in the US.

Anamaria Popescu

Managing Director

Berkeley Research Group - Construction Practice

Dr. Anamaria I. Popescu, P.E.,PSP, PMP, is a Managing Director of BRG’s Construction Practice based in Denver, CO. She is a construction arbitrator with the AAA and a licensed Professional Engineer with more than 27 years of experience in project management, construction claims, schedule delay analysis, project controls, and contract management. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas in Civil Engineering. Her doctoral thesis was on Forensic Schedule Analysis. She is also the Chairman of the Society of Construction Law North American Section. Popescu's project experience includes power generation, natural gas drilling, pipelines, petrochemical and process plants, oil and gas production platforms, mining, water treatment plants, airports, telecommunications, and commercial construction in Australia, Canada, United States, Mexico, South America, South Africa, and China. She provided program/project management and project control services for projects ranging from $500,000 to $50 billion. As an expert witness, she has written numerous expert reports that led to successful settlements as well as testified in international and national arbitration hearings and dispute review board proceedings regarding delay and disruption claims. Popescu has also taught seminars and courses on scheduling, effective project controls, and dispute avoidance in the United States and internationally.