076: Stephanie Leedom: Pursuing Purpose Beyond Public Service- Transitioning into Private Sector Firm Leadership

AIAARCHITECTFIRM OWNERS / LEADERS

Jan 19

Written By Caitlin Brady

Stephanie Leedom is CannonDesign’s Executive Director for the Great Lakes Region. In this role, she provides strategic leadership across offices in Chicago, Buffalo, Toronto, Pittsburgh, and the firm’s newest office in Minneapolis.

For 20 years, Stephanie worked in public service; serving with the Peace Corps in Honduras and working as an Architect at the General Services Administration; Architect/ Division Chief at the US State Department managing teams and projects in Latin America, Africa, and East Asia; and Director of Planning and Development at the Fairfax County Park Authority.

Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Virginia Tech, a Master's in Urban Design from the University of Michigan, is a licensed architect in Virginia, and serves on the AIA Strategic Council as an At-Large-Representative.

We talk about:

- Stephanie’s decision to leave the public sector after 20 years and her tips for architects considering a values-based career pivot, including how to leverage your professional network and strategies to assess if a new team is a good fit.

- We discuss the recent shifts in CannonDesign’s leadership structure and how the firm is strategically building their teams and market expertise to leverage growth opportunities in the Great Lakes region.

- Stephanie talks about leading the Great Lakes region remotely from Washington, DC and how she applies lessons from her GSA workplace strategy experience to build trust and collaboration in hybrid teams. She also shares more about onboarding as a leader and how she developed her 30/60/90 day plans.

- While reflecting on her portfolio of work, highlighting projects in Honduras and Namibia, Stephanie elaborates on architecture’s role in diplomacy and community development and how these projects have elevated women’s roles in construction.

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Connect with Stephanie:

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-leedom-aia-b801348⁠

Cannon Design: ⁠https://www.cannondesign.com/⁠

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Thank you to our Sponsor:

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