Gilbane Builds Chicago
Gilbane brings more than 150 years of Gilbane company leadership and proven expertise across the country to our work in Chicago, a city we have called home for more than four decades. We live here; we work here; we build here. We are creating economic opportunity and forging meaningful relationships one hospital, one school, and one community-based project at a time. But it's not just the buildings that set Gilbane Chicago apart—it's the people. In our new profile series, Gilbane Builds Chicago, we look behind the curtain and share stories from the talented and diverse team that make it possible for us to build more than buildings.
Meet Michelle McClendon, Public Sector Leader
Chicago Native Inspires the Next-Gen Workforce at Gilbane
“I’m a Chicago girl, through and through.”
Michelle McClendon was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago and while she loves to travel, her life and career are still anchored in the city. As a Senior Project Executive and the Public Sector Leader for Gilbane’s Midwest operation, the fingerprints of her professional journey are visible across the cityscape. Early on in her career, she would laugh at seasoned colleagues as they ticked off their design-build resumes. Now, she can’t help but find herself doing the same. Wells Fargo, the Inland Steel Building, Willis Tower—landmarks that she passes now with a newfound pride having left her mark on them.
“I’m just like the people I used to make fun of when I first started in the industry,” she said, laughing.
The pride she takes in her work is palpable, even if it was an unexpected professional pathway.
When Michelle was looking at colleges, she considered majoring in education, following in the footsteps of her mother, a longtime Chicago public school principal. But her mom was less than thrilled with the idea and encouraged both Michelle and her twin sister to pursue engineering instead. Michelle went along with the idea, opting first for computer engineering and then switching to general/civil engineering, where her interest in and passion for construction was unlocked.
After graduation, she joined a different firm in Chicago and spent 16 years there before Gilbane came knocking in the early height of the pandemic.
“Like most folks around the world, I was a little nervous about change at that time because things were so uncertain,” she recalls, but after meeting with several team members, the case for Gilbane was building. “They were all very welcoming and friendly and upfront. It was diverse. It was the first time in my career I saw that level of diversity and camaraderie among a leadership team.”
That diversity and a female-majority leadership team was a selling point for Michelle, who from the beginning has seen the insular and often exclusionary nature of the industry.
“I was a female in a male-dominated industry. I was African American. It was a non-traditional career for a female, and I didn’t see anyone who even remotely looked like me most of the time. It took some time for me to find my voice in the industry,” she said.
Today, Michelle uses that voice to help other women and young people of color find their entry into construction and design. She and her sister started a scholarship for African American women majoring in engineering. She participates in career fairs and career days for Gilbane. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Illinois Green Alliance, where she chairs the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee that is in the early stages of a mentoring program specifically for minorities in sustainability.
And while she didn’t become a teacher, she has become a mentor in her mother’s former district, working with Chicago Public School students who have an interest in architecture and carpentry.
“I always had an example and a role model in what you should do for others; what you should do for people who came from our community and people who looked like us,” she said. “It was ingrained in me from my mother, and at career fairs or other events, the excitement on students’ faces at the elementary, high school, even collegiate level to see someone who looks like them is priceless.”
That role as a mentor and role model will continue, and Michelle believes it will become even more important as Gilbane’s leadership becomes increasingly sought after in her hometown.
“I’ve had an amazing time here and I’m just excited for the growth,” she said. “I’m super excited to see our leadership expand and to see our footprint at Gilbane, specifically Gilbane Chicago grow.”