Bio
Emily has a passion for making complex ideas simple and easy to integrate as well as bringing efficiency into her organizations. Her experience draws from a background in engineering design leading to working in construction and commissioning – this experience has given her insight into all sides of the industry and how to approach projects holistically to create a successful product and process. With nearly 20 years of experience in the A/E/C industry, she has gained insight into how to plan projects, manage design, costs and construction, collaboratively work with all project team members and how to lead teams. This background allows her to understand projects and processes from all sides of the table.
Emily is a professional engineer who spent 12 years practicing at a national MEP firm, Henderson Engineers, Inc. As Director of Kansas City Operations at Henderson, Emily led a team of engineers responsible for managing a wide range of projects, from small national accounts to large corporate, education and performance space projects.
Emily then took an opportunity to become a Principal at Lankford Fendler + Associates, another national MEP firm in Kansas City. Her role included overseeing various project types, but she took the lead on creating a formalized business development strategy and tracking system and project management training. At her time with this firm, she was responsible for landing one of the largest projects in the firms 20+ year history.
The construction industry took notice and Emily moved to McCownGordon Construction where she first helped to bolster the project development department then shifted to become Vice President of Building Performance Solutions which houses several teams: mechanical, electrical and plumbing, structural, commissioning, sustainability and virtual design and construction. She became a licensed commissioning authority and started the commissioning services department at McCownGordon which was not a service previously provided.
Emily has a Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Engineering from Kansas State University. She is a registered professional engineer with WELL AP and Qualified Commissioning Provider accreditations. She is a past board member of Wonderscope Children’s Museum and past Chair of the UMKC Civil and Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board.