HOUSTON, TX — McKissack & McKissack, a Black- and woman-owned architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) company, announces that Heidi Obie joined the company as Vice President of Operations for Texas. The Houston-based executive has more than 23 years of experience leading program management construction management (PMCM) and building projects in multiple markets. She will focus on operations and P&L, and partner with McKissack's Dallas-based Business Development Vice President Shandra Colón to grow the firm's capacity and PMCM business in Texas and the Southwest.

Obie comes to McKissack from a long-standing career with large global consulting firms, where she served in multiple roles that have given her AEC industry experience. Most recently, she was a PMCM Vice President and Business Leader in the buildings, water, and transportation markets in South Texas. Since 2015, she also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston (UH) College of Technology's Construction Management Department and was Vice Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee on the UH Construction Management Industry Advisory Board.

"Heidi is not only an outstanding AEC industry leader, she's also a committed and tireless business leader in Houston," McKissack President and CEO Deryl McKissack said. "Her extensive strategic planning, operations, and front-line experience significantly strengthens the value McKissack brings to its clients and partners and is a significant addition to our company's already substantial human resources."

Obie sits on the board of directors for the Greater Houston Women's Chamber of Commerce, was a recent graduate of the 2022 Class XL Leadership Houston cohort, and remains active in several national AEC industry groups. These include the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA), where she served as a past Chair of the board of governors for the Construction Management Certification Institute (CMCI). She is committed to supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion in AEC, and in particular attracting young women and people of color to STEM fields. Along with mentoring University of Houston students, Obie serves on the Education Committee of the Greater Houston Women's Chamber of Commerce.

After more than two decades working with large international consulting firms, Obie said she was drawn to McKissack because of its entrepreneurial spirit and "humble, hungry, and smart" culture. "What I admire about the McKissack team is their willingness to go the extra mile to support each other and deliver excellent service," she said. "I saw tenacity. I saw fearlessness. I saw excitement about executing projects of every size, whether small or large. That was inspiring to me."

"Heidi truly feels like coming to McKissack was a calling," McKissack said. "She learned so many significant skills with some of the largest AEC companies in the nation and knows so much about best practice from teaching. Given her many talents and enormous drive, she will be instrumental in helping us grow in synchrony with Texas—one of our nation's fastest growing states. We are fortunate to have her on our team."

Obie was born in the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia. She moved to the United States to attend Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, where she earned a bachelor's degree in architecture and a master's degree in construction management and building construction. After several years of work in the design and construction management industry, she shifted her focus to business operations. To support that focus, she earned an executive Master of Business Administration in management at Tulane University in New Orleans. Her professional registrations and certifications include Certified Construction Manager and Safety-Trained Supervisor.