Leader Development Community

Community Mission

The mission of the SAME Leader Development Community of Interest (LD COI) is to develop, execute, and track leader development activities across the SAME enterprise in support of the 2025 SAME Strategic Plan – Securing America’s Future, Together.

Specifically, the LD COI will lead efforts to enhance leadership development and cultivate the talent necessary to address the nation’s grand challenges (including through supporting the SAME Leader Development Program as well as many other local and regional leader development initiatives across the Society) and ensure the enduring stewardship of the A/E/C profession.

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Community Leader

Community Structure

Vice Chair: Julie Eiter, Black & Veatch Special Projects Corp.

Immediate Past Chair: Cdr. Roland de Guzman, P.E., CEM, USN (Ret.), MBP

Vice Chair, COI Liaison: Gerald Morris, F.SAME, Michael Baker International

Vice Chair, Programs: Brec Wilshusen, F. SAME

Vice Chair, Communication: Yvonne Rivera, Gannett Fleming

Vice Chair, Post Liaison: Col. Scott Grainger, F.SAME, USAF (Ret.)

Vice Chair, Education: Col. Eric Wilbur, P.E., USAF (Ret.). Wilbur Consulting

LDP Liaison: Brandi Smith, Cornerstone Engineering

Mentoring Advisory Group Liaison: Dr. Joshua McClure, F. SAME Halff Associates, Inc.

SAME National Office POC: Ree Miskimon, CPSM, FSMPS

Strategic Alignment

Goal 1: Strengthen Industry-Government Engagement
Lead efforts to foster communication and build relationships among military, public, academic, and professional organizations; further collaboration to identify issues and develop solutions in support of National security.

LDP provides a platform for industry and government members to grow professionally in a mutually supportive environment. Industry and government professionals interact under a common theme. The program also offers members of government and industry the opportunity to support the program as instructors and mentors.

Goal 2: Build and Sustain Resilient Communities
Lead efforts to prepare communities to absorb, recover, and adapt from natural and man-made threats, fortify our nation’s resolve directly where people work and live.

Leadership is key to decision-making. When faced with tough circumstances, a leader’s ability to respond to threats helps determine their resilience. LDP enhances that ability.

Goal 3. Develop Leaders for the Profession
Lead efforts to enhance leadership development and cultivate the talent necessary to address the nation’s grand challenges; ensure the enduring stewardship of the A/E/C profession.

Leader development is core to the Leader Development Program.

Goal 4: Enrich the STEM Pipeline for the Nation
Lead efforts to inspire, encourage, and enable youth to pursue STEM careers; help develop the technical capacity that our nation needs to remain globally competitive.

As a component of leader development, mentoring ensures knowledge, skills, and aptitudes are shared among the membership. Student members can especially benefit from mentoring to enhance their own leader development.

Goal 5. Prepare Service Members and Veterans for the A/E/C Industry
Lead efforts to fully integrate military and government members in the A/E/C industry; support training, credentialing, and networking initiatives that build, maintain, and translate skills to meet current and future needs.

LD provides a platform to leverage the leadership of service members and veterans as well as enhance leadership development for them to address challenges in the A/E/C profession.

LDP Operations Team

LDP Vice Chair: Brandi Smith, Cornerstone Engineering

LDP Vice Chair: Col. Eric Wilbur, F.SAME, USAF (Ret.)

LDP Book Discussion POC: Travis Cummin, Enterprise Engineering

LDP Mentor POC: Aaron Kotlarz, USN | Arpan Patel, USAF

LDP UPIC Projects Lead: Caroline Roberts, F.SAME, Jacob

LDP Evaluations: Colleen Rust, EA Engineering, Science, and Technology

LDP Alumni POC: Susan Thames, F. SAME, Miller-Remick

SAME National Office POC: Ree Miskimon, CPSM, FSMPS

Mentoring Advisory Group

LDP Class Demographics

Class	Occupation Sector	Position	Gender	Race	Military Service
2022	32% Private Sector 47% Public Sector (DoD) 21% Public Sector (non-DoD)	42% Project Manager 42% Engineer 16% Marketing or Business Development	47% Male 53% Female	90% White 5% Asian or Pacific Islander 5% Black or African American	22% Active Duty 0% Veteran 6% Reserve/National Guard 72% Never Served
2021	33% Private Sector 60% Public Sector (DoD) 7% Public Sector (non-DoD)	27% Project Manager 60% Engineer 13% Marketing or Business Development	73% Male 27% Female	93% White 7% Asian or Pacific Islander	40% Active Duty 0% Veteran 13% Reserve/National Guard 47% Never Served
2020	46% Private Sector 46% Public Sector (DoD) 8% Public Sector (non-DoD)	61% Project Manager 31% Engineer 8% Marketing or Business Development	70% Male 30% Female	85% White 15% Hispanic/Latino	31% Active Duty 31% Veteran 7% Reserve/National Guard 31% Never Served

SAME National Webinars

The Leader Development COI hosts its monthly community-wide meeting on the 4^th Friday of the month at 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. ET.

SAME’s Leader Development COI has held many webinars in recent years, examining key leadership, talent management, and development issues facing the federal government and industry. Listen to these webinar recordings on-demand.

You can join any of our Communities of Interest by logging into your member profile and finding “Communities of Interest” within your Community Hub, then selecting a COI.

Quick Links

100 Days: A Recap and A Look Ahead

Mission to Build: Opportunities and Challenges of Veterans in Construction

Behind the Bid: How Contractors Make Go/No-Go Decisions and What Makes a Project Worth Pursuing