ACEC/MA Genesis Leadership Education Program Spring 2026

Description

Building a professional career requires you to develop expertise in more than technical skills. In Genesis, learn about a range of appropriate protocols, values, ethics, reputation and relationship-building strategies to help you advance your career.

ACEC/MA’s Genesis Program provides a foundation for moving forward.

Three carefully designed instructional sessions address key topics identified by firm leaders as vital for the professional with 3-5 years experience. These engaging sessions will give you new techniques and insights through discussion and instructional exercises.

This course has 3 sessions on different dates, in-person only. Attendees are expected to attend all three sessions. 

Each session is from 2 - 5 pm, please plan to arrive by 1:45 pm. 

Participation limited to 30. Registration is first-come first-served, with a limit of 2 per firm. If there is space available after April 24, an additional participant per firm will be considered. There will be a waitlist.

Session dates and descriptions: 

• Monday, May 4 - How Your Firm Gets Business
  
  Instructors: Lori Chicoyne, Affinity Business Development, Founder & Strategic BD Advisor
  Becky Bozadjian, VP, Strategic Growth Team, WSP
  
  What roles do marketing and business development play in running a successful firm? A big picture overview of marketing & BD for technical professionals where you’ll learn how you can contribute to winning work. Topics include: marketing & BD lifecycle, networking and building relationships, and how to deliver a winning pursuit. You’ll be an active participant, learning the importance of go/no-go decisions, how to network and develop your elevator pitch, best social media practices, & what goes into creating winning proposals.
  
  
• Monday, May 11 - How a Firm Makes a Profit—the Business Side of Engineering

Instructor: Kevin Dandrade PE, PTOE, Principal, TEC, Inc. The Engineering Corp.

Focus on how and why an engineering firm makes a profit. Kevin covers project and firm economics, overhead, how billing rates are established, utilization importance, the difference between project and firm profits, plus how & why managers benchmark economic indicators against other firms. Key concept: to keep an engineering firm afloat, you need to know more than just engineering.

• Monday, May 18 - Personal Communication Effectiveness

Instructor: Mark Debowski, Senior Director Of Transportation, GPI

Skill-building in key communication areas that will improve your ability to work successfully with colleagues, supervisors and in teams. Topics include: Personal Mastery, Professional Conversation, and Interpersonal Collaboration. The goal is to build confidence in your ability to exchange information while enhancing rapport and working-relationships.

ACEC/MA is grateful to CDM Smith for hosting this Genesis course.