In recognition of Women in Construction Week, we profile the fearless female leaders working at Joeris. From project managers, estimators, accountants, to field staff, these women are stand-outs in their field.
Our employee spotlights profile women at all levels of leadership at Joeris modeling our values of safety, integrity, leadership and excellence. Lauren Gibson, Meredith Deitelbaum, Mallory Ottino, and Andi Galloway are all industry up and coming leaders who exhibit tenacity as a change agent, affecting positive outcomes on their teams and within the organization.
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Lauren Gibson, Senior Project Manager
Work History
Lauren graduated from Queen’s University 11 years ago with a civil engineering degree. She worked for a structural engineering firm for 3 1/2 years. Then Lauren moved to Texas in 2014 and started working as an Assistant Project Manager for an engineering and contracting firm that often partnered with Joeris General Contractors on projects. After being promoted to Project Manager, she moved over to Joeris. In 2019, Joeris promoted Lauren to a Senior Project Manager.
Lauren’s experience includes a vast portfolio of markets such as private office, multi-family, and retail. She has worked on several notable projects, including the $53 million project, Cellars at the Pearl, a multi-level residential complex. On a number of her current projects with a local grocer, Lauren is working on the leading edge of incorporating a new electronic warehouse style with emerging technology in new stores that are the first of its kind in Texas.
She takes pride in seeing a project through, no matter how challenging. She works hard to develop a relationship with the owner, ensuring that the result is something the owner is thrilled to inhabit, and they are happy with how the project team managed the budget.
Why Lauren’s an Up and Coming Leader at Joeris
During her four years at Joeris, Lauren has never had a negative profit on one of her projects; in fact, her project profits have continued to trend up.
Her financial success on projects caught the Joeris Executive Team’s attention after making financial health a long-term objective (LTO). The Executive Team approached Lauren, inviting her to spearhead the Financial Health LTO team.
She worked with the team to develop a tool based on her projection theory and budgeting methodology to manage project financial health, standardizing the approach to project budget projections and job cost management companywide. A secondary objective is that the tool is simple enough for a new grad who has never done construction before to know where we’re going to be at on a project as it nears completion given information today.
Her financial health project tool is in the pilot stage, and she is currently mentoring the first Joeris project team members on its implementation.
Lauren values sharing her experience with those willing to learn from it. She invests her time mentoring several Joeris Assistant Project Managers, focusing on their success at the firm and in life. After experiencing career burnout moments in her career, she works hard to instill the importance of work/life balance to those earlier in their careers. Several of the APMs she mentors are new moms. She reaches out to them to make sure they know they have someone who knows what it’s like to be a project manager and a new mom, offering moral and technical support to them any time they need it.
Meredith Deitelbaum, AIA LEED AP BD+C, Project Manager
Work History
Meredith is a licensed architect of 15 years with experience in multiple types of projects, including K-12 and higher education in Chicago, Tulsa, and Dallas. She switched over to the AEC industry’s general contractor side two years ago, totaling 17 years of industry experience. As a project manager for Joeris, she leverages her years of architectural experience working with North Texas School Districts to better the knowledge and quality of schools built for her clients. Meredith is LEED BD+C certified. Meredith’s past project owners include various North Texas ISDs such as Little Elm ISD, Garland ISD, Allen ISD, Lancaster ISD, and HEB ISD.
Why Meredith’s an Up and Coming Leader at Joeris
Meredith is a leader in our industry by demonstrating the flexibility an AEC career can provide to anyone with multiple passions. She spent her first 15 years in the industry as a licensed architect, LEED BD+C certified. During that time, Meredith was also a pastry chef, baking as a hobby, and worked at a Michelin star restaurant while living in Chicago. She has successfully switched over to the general contractor side of the AEC industry, completing her first project as a PM with Joeris, Trinity Lakes Elementary School. The 90,000 SF, $26 million ground-up project came in on schedule and budget.
Her efforts in community organizations are also noteworthy. She has been a board member for Crossroads Community Services for three years, a board member and secretary for Pets Helping People from 2012 to 2015, and a pace leader and program coach for Dallas Running club from 2018 to the present.
She is currently a communication board member for the Association for Learning Environments in Dallas and has been a panelist on several AIA Dallas panels about architect/contractor collaboration.
Mallory Ottino, Senior Estimator
Work History
Mallory Ottino is a Senior Estimator at Joeris with 13 years of pre-construction experience. Over her tenure at Joeris, she has advanced from a junior estimator to Senior Estimator – all before the age of 30. She has estimated nearly $800M in projects ranging from K-12 and higher education to commercial and healthcare markets.
Why Mallory’s an Up and Coming Leader at Joeris
Mallory Ottino is a Senior Estimator at Joeris with more than ten years of industry experience. Her knowledge, expert skill, and dedication to her work garnered her a senior-level position before the age of 30. She is one of the few estimators at Joeris who has led pre-construction efforts for multi-million-dollar projects, including the latest Joeris project, a ground-up $112M high school. Her experience as an estimator includes working on multiple projects, from K-12, Higher Education, healthcare, federal, commercial and municipal verticals.
Andi Galloway, Marketing Manager
Work History
Andi has spent the past 6 years working in the construction industry as a Marketing Coordinator and now the Marketing Manager for Joeris General Contractors. She works closely with the executive team, division leaders, and business development teams to establish and execute corporate-wide marketing goals and objectives. She also serves on the local chapter of AGC as a director. She has been an active member of the San Antonio AGC chapter for many years and in 2017 received the Construction Leadership Council’s Member of the Year Award.
Why Andi’s an Up and Coming Leader at Joeris
Andi is an employee owner of Joeris General Contractors, Ltd. who, since joining Joeris in 2015, has been an integral part in continuing to advance the Joeris brand and presence across all Texas markets.
As Marketing Manager, she works with the executive team and regional office leadership in achieving corporate and market-specific objectives as well as leading the development and execution of company-wide marketing and communication strategies. She is also responsible for managing the daily function of the marketing team and ensuring corporate communication, engagement, and brand standards are upheld both internally and externally.
Andi is recognized by her industry peers for her initiative and demonstrated successes through her years of leadership and service on the San Antonio Chapters of Associated General Contractors and Construction Leadership Council (CLC). For her outstanding efforts, she was awarded the 2017 CLC Member of the Year Award. She has also organized and conducted several resume-builder seminars for UTSA Construction Science students and Northside ISD’s Construction Careers Academy as part of her continued efforts in community mentorship and professional development.
Andi is responsible for the creation and organization of the Construction Cup, a highly successful annual softball tournament, for which she serves as the tournament director, for companies in the A/E/C industry. Andi graduated with her bachelor’s in Communications Arts with a concentration in Media Studies, which allowed her to tailor a curriculum focused on corporate communications, traditional and social media, marketing and advertising, and public relations. She received the University of the Incarnate Word School of Media and Design’s Monahan Media Studies Award as the top student in her program.