GBA President’s Letter to Membership

Teresa Peterson, P.E., C.M.E., LEED AP O&M, ENV SP (GFT)

With the completion of another successful Annual Conference, we kick off a new GBA fiscal year and welcome a new Board of Directors. I am honored and thrilled to take the reins of this storied organization! We have a big challenge ahead to roll out our new strategic initiatives as part of our 2027+ Strategic Plan. If you haven’t already read it, let me give you a snippet.

With guidance from our past-President Guy Marcozzi, P.E., D.GE, LEED AP BD+C, we embarked on a journey to envision how the organization will provide value to its members by elevating our recognition and our value in the community. Engineers are great at evaluating problems, identifying risks and offering solutions to mitigate those risks. We’ve seen new risks emerge from the use of 3D printing, workforce shortages, and weather pattern changes. Don’t forget to add AI to the mix!

We landed on three core tenets summarized as: Member Success, Impact, and Vibrancy. We will support the success of our member firms’ success by advancing the growth and development of their employees to make them more effective and prosperous through change. We will lead the way by demystifying, vetting, and promoting technology-drive strategies for our members to grow and thrive. And we will champion collaboration, uniting like-minded allies to achieve common goals and drive industry innovation.

Ambitious, right?

GBA has always been a frontrunner when it comes to ambitious plans. Just look at our Career Continuum. The mind-boggling concept that one program can organize and promote the educational resources required at every stage of a professional career – from entry level to 2nd Mountain and beyond. Pulling together resources from all our committees, Case Histories, Best Practices, round tables, and conference proceedings, the Career Continuum aims to develop a lifelong learning program that focuses on communication, hiring and retention, ethics, standard of care, contracts, dispute resolution, and staying current in an evolving environment. Imagine finding the one theme that encompasses CoMET field training webinars, the Emerging Leaders Program, project manager training, and leadership training! That theme is elevating geoprofessionals.

Or look at the success of the GBA Podcast – 18,000+ downloads and counting. The messages we share resonate across the industry.

Engineers should take pride in the monumental contributions we’ve made throughout history. We come from a long line of master builders including Ellen Swallow Richards, the “Mother of Environmental Engineering,” Sir Alexander Cruikshank Houston who introduced chlorination in drinking water, Abel Wolman who pioneered modern sanitary engineering, and Arthur Powell Davis who developed the first engineering report for the Hoover Dam. These men and women saw the challenges and rose to the occasion, despite the overwhelming odds against them.

Our new goals are achievable. They are within our reach, and this is our time to shine. But we need your help to make this happen. And when we achieve our goals, we will all share in the benefits. The skills you will learn, and networking connections you will make by volunteering with GBA will help position you for success in your career. Send me an email at tpeterson@gftinc.com to learn how you can get more involved.

I look forward to sharing this year with all of you.