DBIA is excited to announce that DBIA National Board Member Laura F. Stagner, FAIA, PMP, DBIA, has been inducted into this year’s class of National Academy of Construction members.
“It’s an honor, of course,” Stagner said. “A lot of the people I know who are in the National Academy of Construction are people I’ve long admired and respected, so it’s a pleasure to be considered a part of that group.”
Each year, the National Academy of Construction (NAC) inducts construction industry leaders who have shown outstanding impacts on the field. DBIA’s ED/CEO, Lisa Washington, was inducted last year, and several other DBIA members have also been inducted over the years. Now 25 years old, the Academy has recognized and connected hundreds of members throughout the construction industry. Stagner is one of 43 inductees for 2024.
NAC says she was elected for her “distinguished executive career and [for being] one of the most experienced women in public/government design and construction who has driven numerous contributions to the industry.”
Stagner sees the Academy as a group dedicated to passing on construction knowledge to the next generation and is excited to be a part of the organization.
She started her career studying architecture in college, but for her, school was abstract. It wasn’t until working on a real team that she felt she began to understand what it meant to build.
Her Construction Management master’s program at the University of Michigan, in particular, pushed her to realize, “Teams matter, that there’s actually some science behind how teams work, that leadership matters, that leadership is a teachable trait.” Making this connection, realizing a project only works if the team works, evolved her understanding of building.
“That really spoke to me. That was what was missing from my architectural education.”
She remembers a moment working on a design/bid/build project early in her career where evaluators sat the team down halfway through the project.
They said, “You have all the money you need to complete this project. You have great team members. You are working on a great project, but you are circling the drain because you can’t get along and you cannot solve problems with each other.”
She remembers the team making a mental shift after that to reset intentions and commit to getting the project done collaboratively. That’s what it took for them to finish the project successfully, and she learned she had the power to change the dynamic of a team and mentality was everything.
“I am going to go to the table willing to solve the problems. Period,” Stagner said. After you understand how that works, you want to do it again and again.”
This shift helped her understand that focusing on teams, leadership and collaboration were key.
“Once you do a project collaboratively, you don’t want to go back,” she said. “It’s the key to making decisions that are in the best interest of the team, which then are in the best interest of the project, which then is in the best interest of the client.”
At its core, design-build is inherently collaborative, encouraging each member of the team to communicate and work together to solve problems. Stagner has significantly contributed to DBIA as a board member for the past five years and as Chair of the Federal Markets Committee for almost three years.
Now retired, she led a career with over 30 years of planning experience working on countless projects. Having worked for five years for the U.S. Navy and over 25 years at the General Services Administration (GSA), Stagner has deep roots in the federal sector. Stagner graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s in Architecture and from the University of Michigan with double master’s in Architecture and Construction Management.
Gretchen Gagel, Ph.D., GAICD, from Brinkman Construction, nominated Stagner for the induction.
