Colleen Marnell
38, Midwest Regional Leader and Senior Vice President
Kimley-horn
Chicago
Colleen Marnell was, from January 2024, the youngest and third women’s regional leader in Kimley-Horn’s history. He started graduating from Notre Dame University in 2008, joining the Firm’s Development Services Team in Chicago, where he created computer-aided design standards, improved project structures and tools implemented to streamline work flows.
Marnell says that one of his proud memories is working on the North Star Solar Project in Minnesota, then the largest of the Midwest. He enjoyed the opportunity to work in a “still in his childhood” field without many rules and regulations. “We really need to use our engineering judgment, our brain of critical thinking,” he says. “The team really gathered to take advantage of everyone’s collective experience to offer something that would serve the community well as well as our client.”
The impact of Marnell’s leadership is evident in the growth of the Midwest region from 2017 to 2023, while playing several leadership roles. His job began from $ 70 million to $ 240 million, the number of offices expanded and more than 10 new areas of service were established. It credits this success to the people around it.
“This is really about all the people I have had the opportunity to work,, Says Marnell. )I think of the practices I had and people who invested in explaining why. I think about the opportunities they gave me when people believed in me before believing in myself. It is the sum of this investment in me … that led me to be able to do things that I have been able to do. “”
Today, Marnell oversees more than 800 employees and numerous functional groups, including human resources, information technology and finance.
In the way of seeing the future of the industry, Marnell names the lack of engineers as one of the biggest challenges: “When you look at the data coming out of the schools, you see that we are not graduating enough civilian engineers to continue with the demands of the industry.”
The answer is that the industry expands its focus to hire not only civil engineers, but also “problem solver”. She says. “This is our business. How can we apply these people and teach them this industry?”
This new approach could also fit into a changing industry.
“Many of the needs of our clients evolve,” says Marnell. “They are looking for more program management, things you don’t need an engineering title.”
The executive believes that more young women should be encouraged to follow their careers in STEM. He collaborates with his father, a high school chemistry professor and an advisor to the Women’s Society in Engineering, Entrepreneurship and Technology, to inspire young women to explore related attendees.
