Growing with Gilbane: Garibaldi and Abufares Find Purpose as Project Managers

Katie Garibaldi and Saleem Abufares met at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in the suburbs of Chicago. They weren’t students–but they did have a lot to learn.

It was the summer of 2019, and they were both working as project engineers. Now, five years later, those first jobs and first job sites have laid the foundation for the next phase of their careers as they grow with Gilbane. In March 2024, both were promoted to project manager.

“The company culture is open for everyone, regardless of who you are or what you do– everybody has a place in the company,” said Abufares. “Gilbane provides an opportunity for us to grow personally and professionally.”

Opportunity for growth was a key attraction as the two young professionals considered their options. Both first became connected to Gilbane during career fairs, where company representatives talked not just about the complex projects they would tackle, but the company culture of caring.

That was reinforced when Garibaldi interviewed for a position.

“The interview process really sold me,” she said. “In the conversations I had, it seemed like they truly cared about their people. I thought I could see myself working well with the dynamic I was experiencing.”

Garibaldi and Abufares are both members of Gilbane Young Professionals, one of the seven employee resources groups that provide opportunities for networking, connection, and support for different affinity or identity groups. It’s one of several places in which their careers have overlapped, starting at Stevenson, where Abufares started in June 2018 and Garibaldi joined in July 2019.

“It was my first time seeing drawings come to life in front of me,” Garibaldi said. “That was really cool. I had grown up in this area, I had known of this high school, and I was able to help add on to the facility and improve their overall program and experience for their students.”

“I got exposed to a lot there,” she added.

Abufares, too, learned a lot on the job site, particularly in relation to the project’s pursuit of sustainability and certified net-zero status.

“I learned so much on the project, especially through LEED certification and tracking that progress,” he said.

His growing expertise on sustainability came in handy again when Abufares joined the team working on a LEED-certified student housing program and then Hagle Hall, which houses the band and orchestra, at Purdue University. The project also allowed Abufares to be closer to his family.

“We want to work where we live, where we can be involved in the community and give back,” he said.

While Abufares worked at Purdue, Garibaldi grew her own education project portfolio before returning to the Gilbane Chicago office, where she was accepted into the Management Candidate Acceleration Program and learned a broad range of new skills, from the purchasing department to several jobs in Gilbane’s interiors portfolio.

Before long, though, Abufares and Garibaldi would be back together again, this time working on the complex new downtown Indiana hospital project, which would mark their next professional milestones as project managers. Abufares was heavily involved in managing the design-assist contractor for the enclosure and is beginning to transition to managing interiors, and Garibaldi’s responsibilities include fire protection, waterproofing, and managing a team of 12 engineers.

The new hospital project is still years from completion, so it’s too soon to say what projects will come next for Abufares and Garibaldi, but both see a future with Gilbane.

“From the time I was in high school, I didn’t like the idea of being at a desk all day,” Garibaldi said. “I liked the idea of seeing what I'm working on come to life before me and, at Gilbane, I found the purpose I was looking for.”