Annual ElevateAEC Conference

Bolanle Williams-Olley is the CFO and co-owner at Mancini Duffy, a national design firm with a 100+-year-old history and tech-forward approach based in New York City, where she oversees the firm's financial and operational performance. She has over 15 years of experience working in the AEC industry with a strong background in financial analysis and strategic initiatives. At her core, she thrives on building relationships between finance and management teams to ensure the overall financial success of projects and her firm. Her clients include American Airlines, Soho House, Brooklyn Nets, Boqueria, Verizon, and NBC Sports Group.

She is a dynamic leader within the AEC industry who has been a guest panelist for the American Institute of Architects' Women's Leadership Summit, National Organization of Minority Architects 47th Conference, and Mother Honestly Summit. Bolanle is passionate about service and is the founder of several impact organizations:

Before her current position at Mancini, she served five years as a Senior Project Accountant at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and five years as Project Accountant at HLW. She holds a Masters in Education & Social Policy from NYU, Masters in Applied Mathematics, and a Bachelors in Mathematics from the City University of New York, Hunter College. Bolanle is a board member of the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF).

She is also the author of the best-selling Build Boldly: Chart your unique career path and lead with courage. She is married with two kids and obsessed with throwing fun, themed parties.

Harry Clark is a bestselling author, highly-awarded serial entrepreneur and a highly-rated keynote speaker on entrepreneurship. He is a Managing Director for Hundred Life Design, a leading online platform to provide coaching services ranging from wellness, start-ups, relationships and more. He is also an investor in and advisor to MentorCloud, a leading SaaS employee engagement and mentoring platform serving multinational corporations. He's founded two Inc. 500 companies and was awarded EY Entrepreneur of the Year. Harry's passion business is Classic Promenade, a high-end collector car dealership located in Phoenix, AZ.He was founder and CEO of two fintech companies serving the governmental markets, including SEC and IRS compliance. In this capacity, he was involved in 1,500 debt issues totaling in excess of $3 billion. The company was ranked in the Inc. 500 and he was also awarded Entrepreneur of the Year. Harry sold this company to MBIA, a $14 billion Fortune 100 company.

Harry was also the CEO and co-founder of startup growing to $100 million in five years. His modular design-build company earned its ranking on the Inc. 500, recognized as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the US.

He is a highly-rated speaker on entrepreneurship. Harry has been a member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO) for over 25 years and served as the first Learning Officer for the YPO Entrepreneur + Innovation Network and the founder of the YPO Silicon Valley Summit. His typical Keynote audience consists of business leaders including entrepreneurs, family businesses and executives.

Harry earned a Bachelor of Science and Masters in Business Administration from California State University, Long Beach, with international studies at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

A decorated Air Force combat veteran and seasoned recruiting professional with extensive experience inside corporate, agency and consultant-based recruiting environments, in both domestic and international markets. Deep recruiting expertise across multiple industries to include: Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Retail, CPG, IT/Telecommunications, Energy, Aerospace and others.

Chad Clinehens is the president and CEO of Zweig Group. Passionate about the business side of design and technical service firms, Chad has built a career on leading them through growth and change. He has worked with AEC firms throughout the U.S. on a variety of needs – strategic business planning, turnarounds, partner separations, organizational restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, marketing and sales, growth campaigns, and more.

As a registered professional engineer, Chad brings an in-depth knowledge of what makes professional service firms and the people who work for them unique. Working in the industry for more than 20 years, he has been involved in many aspects of the business including design, project management, department management, regional office management, and directional leadership. He holds a MBA and BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Arkansas and is a registered professional engineer in several states.

Chad Coldiron is a Principal, and the Director of Executive Search, at Zweig Group, where he helps AEC firms who are experiencing critical leadership transitions. Chad’s passions are focused on all things involving the team and culture building process, whether it is internally or externally focused. He has coordinated executive searches to fill C-Suite, Board of Directors, and other top-level positions within nationally recognized design firms. His professional background has included experience in the areas of leadership, retention, recruiting, employee experience, sales, risk management, social behaviors and contract negotiation.

Prior to joining Zweig Group, Chad developed and directed the client retention department for one of the fastest growing independent insurance brokerages in the U.S. Since joining Zweig Group as an advisor, he has worked with AEC firms throughout the U.S. on a variety of strategic hiring initiatives as well as organizational restructuring, ownership transition, employee training, marketing, and growth campaigns. He brings a commonsense approach to building the right teams in order maximize the client’s growth potential while driving down their overall cost per hire.

Chad launched his career by developing strong and valuable relationships in the local and professional communities around Northwest Arkansas. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Financial Management from the University of Arkansas’ Walton College of Business. Outside of his work at Zweig Group, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends while engaging the community that raised him. You’ll often hear him say “My life is pretty simple, and I love that”.

Over the last 19 years, Tracey has completed valuations ranging from small businesses to multi-million dollar operating companies to holding companies with a variety of assets.  She has worked in the industry since 2010 and specializes in valuations for architecture, engineering and planning firms. Assignments include companies in the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Spain.  Additionally, Tracey serves as an expert witness on business valuation litigation matters. Tracey holds the senior-level Certified Business Appraiser (CBA) designation conferred by The Institute of Business Appraisers, the Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) designation conferred by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts, the Business Certified Appraiser (BCA) designation conferred by the International Society of Business Appraisers, and the Certified Machinery and Equipment Appraiser (CMEA) designation conferred by the NEBB Institute. Tracey currently serves as the co-chair of the International Society of Business Appraisers’ Board of Governors.  She holds a BS from Louisiana Tech University and an MBA from the University of Arkansas, Sam M. Walton College of Business.  She is a member of the Institute of Business Appraisers, NACVA, the NEBB Institute, and the International Society of Business Appraisers.

With over 25 years of experience, Kristin specializes in marketing and business development communications (both strategic and tactical) for B2B and B2C organizations. This includes sales and process development, client stewardship, brand materials management, planning and maximizing budgets, public relations, and research. She is able to generate measurable and definitive results in the pursuit of overarching strategic initiatives by planning/implementing/evaluating the creative concepts - from origin to completion to distribution - that achieve them.

Bill McConnell, co-founder and CEO of The Vertex Companies, Inc.(VERTEX), has worked in the construction industry for nearly his entire life. He rose through the ranks from a union construction worker during high school and college summers, to a project engineer at a top 50 construction company, to a senior executive at VERTEX. In addition, Bill is a top expert witness for construction disputes as he has testified approximately 170 times, most notably for cost and/or standard of care opinions. Many construction, engineering, and law organizations have published Bill’s articles and reports over the past two decades. Bill is a lifelong learner (MS, JD, and PhD student) and a firm believer in the value of industry-academic collaborations.

Since inception of VERTEX in 1995, Bill has led the organization by example. Under his leadership, VERTEX has seen consistent year-over-year growth of more than 20%. Twenty-five years later, in addition to setting strategy and leading VERTEX, Bill works on billable projects while also contributing as an active teacher and student in academia. Bill has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Maine, a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Denver, and a Master of Science degree from Columbia University. Bill is working towards his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado. He also completed a part-time three-year business program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Bill serves on the Industry Advisory Board for the University of Colorado Denver (CU) Construction Engineering and Management program.

Dr. H. Kit Miyamoto, Global CEO of Miyamoto International, built a worldwide engineering and disaster
management firm from a small engineering practice into 25 locations on four continents with one
purpose: make the world a better, safer place. Its purpose-driven mission and a strength focused
culture drive the growth of the company and attracts equally purpose-driven, passionate, teamwork
focused team members.
Dr. Miyamoto is a world-leading expert in disaster resiliency engineering, disaster response and
reconstruction. He provides expert engineering and policy advice for USAID, World Bank, UN agencies
and various governments.
Dr. Miyamoto holds graduate degrees from the Tokyo Institute of Technology and California State
University, where he has been recognized as a Distinguished Alumni. He has won the Engineering News
Record’s “Global Best Project” award an unprecedented three consecutive times. Major media such as
ABC, CNN, LA Times, NY Times and Rolling Stone have profiled him. He is featured in the “Designing for
Disaster” exhibit at the National Building Museum.
He currently travels around the world to saves lives, impact economies.

As Corporate Communications Leader, Laura Nick leads the in-house communications team for Garver, charged with all facets of branding, strategic marketing, and internal communications throughout the firm’s 14-state footprint. Since joining the firm in 2011, she created the firm’s competitive recruitment program; developed GarverGives, the company’s employee-driven charitable giving program that prioritizes STEM partnerships; and spearheaded Garver’s multi-state centennial year celebration. Laura was named to the Arkansas Business 40 Under 40 Class of 2019. She is a graduate of Leadership Arkansas (Class XI) and serves on the steering committee of Women Empowered for the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas.

Ed is President and CEO of SES ESOP Strategies, a Stevens & Lee/Griffin-affiliated company, and co-chair of Stevens & Lee's ESOP Group and its Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group. He concentrates his practice in helping companies navigate the complexities of ESOPs.

Michael is Chief Executive of Trilon and is a driving force behind our vision of building an enduring business in this sector. Michael was the Chief Growth Officer at AECOM a world leader in infrastructure consulting. He was the CEO of Cardno, an engineering and environmental firm previously listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (CDD). He is an Independent Director of Opteon (property appraisal) and was an Independent Director on Nasdaq listed NV5 (NVEE). Michael graduated with honors from Central Queensland University and attended Harvard Business School advanced management program.

Justin Smith, SE, PE, MBA is a subject matter AEC leadership and project management expert with a proven track record of business growth and profitability in diverse and highly technical programs. Having led teams successfully completing high pressure projects throughout the country and internationally, he is no stranger to the challenges that organizational leaders and team leaders in the AEC industry face.

Having held nearly every role that exists in a modern AEC firm, Mr. Smith brings a practitioner’s eye to consulting and training and regularly offers his expertise to firms, universities, and professional organizations looking to develop skills and offerings that provide a competitive advantage for talent. Mr. Smith has consulted on projects and with companies on matters including workplace culture improvement, leadership development challenges, business system implementations, and project leadership for highly technical subject matters.

https://zweiggroup.com/pages/will-swearingen

Mailena Urso, Founder and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Concord Adams, joined Zweig Group as a fractional/contract CMO in February 2023. Mailena and her team have been instrumental in the advancement of marketing and e-commerce at Zweig Group for over two years. Since then, Concord Adams redesigned Zweig Group's website, which has improved ZG's online presence, and supported brand enhancements. 

Mailena has 15+ years experience leading and developing marketing teams in B2B and B2C organizations. She is an entrepreneur and has built two successful businesses. She's excited to join Zweig Group in this new capacity! 

Mailena holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism with an emphasis in advertising and public relations from the University of Arkansas. She and her family live in Northwest Arkansas.