Board of Directors
Deryl McKissack, PE
Board Chair and President
Deryl is President and CEO of McKissack & McKissack, managing over $15 billion in projects nationwide.
During the past 30 years under her leadership, McKissack & McKissack has managed such landmark projects as the new Museum of African-American History and Culture on the National Mall, MGM National Harbor Casino, Navy Pier Centennial Projects in Chicago and served as the architectural firm of record for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC. As a licensed professional engineer and registered project management professional, Deryl is part of the fifth generation of her family to work in the design and construction field. McKissack & McKissack is a continuation of the nation’s oldest African-American architectural firm and traces its beginnings to Moses McKissack, a master builder who was also a slave. After graduating from Howard University with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering, she worked at Turner Construction and Dames & Moore; while at these firms, she honed her experience in field work, business development, and construction management. In 1990, with a shoestring budget of $1,000, Deryl started McKissack & McKissack. McKissack & McKissack has grown to 170 employees, with offices in Baltimore; Chicago; Dallas; Los Angeles; Miami; and Washington, DC. The firm is ranked by “Engineering News-Record” as one of the top Construction Management For-Fee firms in the nation and by the “Washington Business Journal” as one of the top 25 design firms in the metropolitan Washington area.
Steve Demetriou
Board Co-Chair and Treasurer
Steve joined Jacobs as CEO in August 2015 and the following year was appointed Chair of the Board of Directors. Steve has steered a profound reshaping of Jacobs’ business portfolio, operations and culture. Under his leadership, the firm has accelerated profitable growth and transformed into the leading, next-generation solutions provider by tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery, and cutting-edge manufacturing.
Steve has put culture change at the top of the agenda at Jacobs and has personally championed inclusion and diversity, shifting his executive leadership team from all male to 50% female, while increasing overall diversity of the Jacobs board of directors to 50% female and ethnically diverse. He has also driven sustainability into the culture by launching PlanBeyond, Jacobs’ sustainability strategy aligned to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals; becoming a signatory of the U.N. Global Compact; publishing Jacobs’ global Climate Action Plan; and establishing Jacobs as the first consultancy and one of the world’s first companies with net-zero targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative. Steve has also taken a leadership role in the industry by speaking up and speaking out on racism and social injustice and launched Jacobs’ global Action Plan for Advancing Justice and Equality in 2020.
Steve’s broad international business perspectives are the product of more than 35 years in leadership and senior management roles across a wide range of industries, including specialty chemicals, metals and mining. In addition to serving on Jacobs’ Board, Steve also serves on the board for FirstEnergy Corp. He is also a CEO member of the Male Champions of Change, the U.S. Co-Chair of the U.S. – Saudi Arabian Business Council and a Board member of the Dallas Citizens Council.
Peter Davoren
Board Co-Chair and Secretary
Peter Davoren was appointed President of Turner Construction Company in 2003 and CEO of The Turner Corporation in 2007.
Under Peter’s leadership, Turner has grown its presence in North America and key markets in Asia, Europe, and India. The company’s 10,000 employees complete $15 billion of construction on 1,500 projects each year. Turner is the largest builder in the United States and is ranked as a leader in major market segments of the building construction field, including healthcare, education, sports, commercial, aerospace, and green building.
Through Peter’s leadership, the company works hard to eliminate hate and bias in the workplace, and create an environment where people actively care for others and are treated with respect and dignity. Reflecting the company’s focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, Turner is widely recognized as a great place to work.
Peter is driving the adoption of a lean culture in the company to create meaningful value for clients and stakeholders. He leads the company’s efforts to adopt emerging technologies and develop new client-facing services. Peter has committed that the company will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption of our jobsite construction operations by 50 percent by 2030.
Peter is committed to supporting communities where the company does business. He is dedicated to improving the economic viability of under-represented business enterprises and expanding opportunities for local minority, women and small-business enterprises through the projects Turner builds.
Peter serves as Chairman of the ACE Mentor Program which serves to strengthen the talent pipeline in the construction industry. Peter was also named one of the 100 CEO Leaders in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) by STEMconnector.
