Washington’s 22-year tenure reshaped DBIA’s scope, impact, and standing within the design-build field
I came to understand how profoundly our industry touches people’s lives and the difference design-build can make in delivering better projects.”— Lisa Washington, CAE, ED/CEO, DBIAWASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, September 10, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Lisa Washington, CAE, Executive Director/CEO of the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), has revealed plans to retire in 2027, wrapping up more than 22 years with DBIA—17 of those as its top executive. Washington will remain at the organization’s helm while the National Board searches for her replacement, with a transition expected by mid-2027.
A visible reminder in Washington’s office highlights the first three organizational objectives she set upon joining DBIA in 2004. She accomplished each one, and has continued establishing fresh goals ever since.
When Washington first came to DBIA, design-build was still largely viewed as an alternative project delivery approach, and the organization focused primarily on fostering awareness and acceptance of its use. Nowadays, design-build is widely adopted, and DBIA has shifted to defining and promoting the benchmark for Design-Build Done Right®.
“Lisa will leave DBIA at a moment of extraordinary strength and opportunity,” said Virginia McAllister, AIA, DBIA, LEED AP, NCIDQ, DBIA 2026 National Board of Directors Chair. “The organization is growing and its influence across the industry has never been greater. That position reflects Lisa’s leadership in guiding DBIA through more than two decades of growth and an extraordinary evolution of the design-build industry. She has approached her retirement with the same thoughtfulness she has brought to her leadership, giving the Board the time and opportunity to plan carefully for the transition and DBIA’s next chapter.”
Washington joined DBIA in 2004 to oversee its education and professional development initiatives, and became Executive Director/CEO in 2009. During her time at the helm, design-build authorization expanded from fewer than half of U.S. states to 48, the count of DBIA-certified professionals grew from under 100 to nearly 7,000, membership rose from fewer than 8,000 to more than 25,000, and the organization’s operating budget more than tripled. Collectively, these growth indicators underscore Washington’s stewardship and the combined efforts of DBIA’s staff, Regions, volunteer leaders, and industry partners.
As DBIA’s grasp of successful design-build grew more nuanced and multi-dimensional, Washington increasingly relied on connections with top industry experts to expand the organization’s perspective beyond project delivery mechanics to the human and organizational elements that influence performance. That collaborative mindset also shaped her view of DBIA’s role in the industry, uniting Owners and practitioners across disciplines with researchers, policymakers, and other industry partners to forge consensus, advance evidence-based practices, and elevate expectations for design-build performance.
That forward-looking approach also applied to fortifying DBIA itself. More recently, after a Board-led evaluation of DBIA’s regional structure, Washington crafted a comprehensive plan to improve the relationship between the national organization and its 14 Regions, boost support and resources, and better equip the network to serve an expanding design-build industry.
“Lisa’s leadership changed not only the size and influence of DBIA but she understood the Institute’s responsibility to the design and built industry,” said Craig Unger, FDBIA, former interim DBIA President, who helped bring Washington to DBIA in 2004. “From the beginning, she had an acute ability to understand what the Institute urgently needed while also looking ahead to what DBIA could become. Lisa immersed herself in the industry and became one of design-build’s most visible and trusted advocates, while continuing to guide DBIA to evolve as the industry changed significantly during her tenure.”
Washington’s dedication to the industry has also garnered recognition beyond the association sphere. Engineering News-Record named her one of its Top 25 Newsmakers of 2012 for leading an industry coalition that collaborated with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to improve its design-build procurement processes. In 2023, she was inducted into the National Academy of Construction, which lauded her as a transformational leader in design-build whose collaborative efforts helped standardize best practices throughout the industry.
For Washington, though, her bond with the industry has always been anchored in something more elemental.
“I came to DBIA because of my background in association leadership, but I stayed for more than two decades because I came to believe so deeply in the importance of this work and the people who make it possible,” Washington said. “I came to understand how profoundly our industry touches people’s lives and the difference design-build can make in delivering better projects. It has been the privilege of my career to work alongside extraordinary staff, volunteer leaders, Owners and industry professionals to advance that mission. I’m enormously proud of what we have built together and confident in where DBIA is headed.”
DBIA’s National Board of Directors has engaged Korn Ferry to lead the national search for Washington’s successor, aiming to welcome DBIA’s next Executive Director/CEO by mid-2027. Interested candidates or those wishing to recommend potential candidates may contact Cristina Fisher at Cristina.fisher@kornferry.com. Washington will continue as Executive Director/CEO until her successor begins and will remain with DBIA through December 2027 in a transition advisory capacity.
More than two decades after arriving at DBIA with three goals in hand, Washington will depart from an organization that has been transformed and is ready to keep asking the question that defined much of her leadership: What does the industry need from DBIA next?
Erin Looney
Design-Build Institute of America
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