At the end of the day, it’s not so much about what you do, but about why you do it. Leading with purpose is a journey that starts from within. Leading with purpose is about self-expression and being true to ourselves, standing up for what we know is right and helping others along the way. In times of uncertainty, we turn to our inner sense of purpose to sustain our energy and commitment, to bolster our resilience and to push us forward. In September, USGBC recognizes the sheroes who demonstrate how the power of purpose can shape our lives, our careers and our changing world.

Tammie Wareham, Project Coordinator, DesignGroup
East North Central region

Tammie Wareham is a fearless proponent of green building and a tireless volunteer for the cause. Her driving purpose is inextricably linked to her work, where she makes the built environment a better place to live, work and play. She says, “To have purpose is to believe that there is something greater than the day to day. To have purpose is to matter. To have goals. Believe you are here for a reason.”

With USGBC, she serves on the Ohio Market Leadership Advisory Board, has led in Central Ohio since the beginning of the chapter network in the early 2000s, and currently co-chairs the DesignColumbus conference. Tammie uses the power of purpose to keep her work and volunteer teams motivated and spreads the message of sustainability wherever she is involved.

“I have a desire to leave a mark,” she adds. “Creating opportunities to learn and engage in the transformation of the built environment to be more healthy, prosperous and sustainable. Finding education for myself to keep up on the ever-changing world blossomed into finding education for my firm, my USGBC group, and DesignColumbus—in addition to creating so many friendships along the way.”

Kimberly Vermeer, President, Urban Habitat Initiatives Inc.
Middle Atlantic and New England regions

Kim Vermeer says that “having purpose gives life meaning—[it is] what drives me to get up in the morning and out into the world. Purpose means carrying an intentionality and awareness of myself as I relate to others.” Vermeer is indeed a woman of action and purpose. “Purpose guides me in basic ways—such as keeping up a fitness routine so that I can be healthier. And it can be more profound: seeking to live out my faith by caring for others and making the world a better place. Having purpose gives shape to my life, framing activities of daily living, informing choices and guiding the arc of my career,” she says.

The lack of affordable housing and the climate crisis are two of the most pressing challenges facing cities today. Vermeer puts her purpose into practice with her company, Urban Habitat Initiatives Inc., by offering strategic consulting to community development corporations and other affordable housing developers to advance sustainability and climate resilience.

“I’ve always been motivated to serve ‘the least among us,' influenced by the call of faith to live out the gospel. My dad has been a lifelong role model, a social services senior administrator who always believed in the worth of all people and in creating opportunities for them to thrive,” she says. Vermeer is committed to delivering the benefits of green building to vulnerable populations. She works with teams to incorporate energy efficiency and renewable energy, water conservation, healthy housing and climate resilience into their projects. She directs project certification through LEED or Enterprise Green Communities rating systems, as well as the LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system for larger, master-planned projects.

Vermeer adds that her “career focus is in affordable housing, believing that good-quality, stable and affordable homes allow people and families to build their lives and to prosper. Bringing sustainability and affordable housing together in my consulting practice has strengthened my commitment to social equity—to ensure that green building benefits extend to all families and communities. COVID-19 and its impact on vulnerable people and communities of color has only strengthened my resolve to expand opportunities for families to have safe, healthy and equitable housing.”

Sandra Bernal, Ph. D., Lecturer and Instructional Specialist, University of Arizona
Mountain region

Sandra Bernal’s top priority, and the purpose driving her work, is the health and wellness of people. “Having purpose is about visualizing your goals and the outcomes you wish to see,” she says. "It starts with an idea," says Bernal, "then you take that idea and envision the different components of the what, the how, the why, the whom and what’s next. The moment you start walking toward that goal, you begin the journey toward fulfilling it."

Bernal is a social science researcher, lecturer and instructional specialist at the University of Arizona. Recently, she was named Hispanic Serving Institutions Fellow at the university. Her research focuses on health and how it relates to buildings, cultural implications within sustainability, and online education, among other fields. She reminds us that the basic principle of buildings and spaces is to protect and serve as a shield to safeguard all equally.

She takes the basic idea that, historically, societies created buildings by different means with the common mission of protecting themselves from the elements and danger, applies this idea to all of her work, and takes that principle above and beyond. Bernal creates products that not only meet those basic functions, but respect the people who use them, work on them and surround them, making sure that they don’t pose health threats and, instead, increase the quality of life.

Bernal has served as a Market Leadership Advisory Board member in Arizona since 2016 and has been awarded twice as volunteer of the year. She collaborates with multiple organizations, such as the Consulate of Mexico, the Southern Arizona Green Business Alliance, Tucson 2030 District, Local First Arizona and the International Traditional Knowledge Institute.

Daniele Horton, Founder and President, Verdani Partners
Pacific region

Daniele Horton consistently raises the bar for what it means to lead with purpose. She brings over 20 years of experience in corporate sustainability, real estate and project management. Her expertise, dedication and passion are central to the leadership of her company. Since starting a woman-minority-owned business, Horton leads Verdani Partners (a full-service sustainability and ESG consulting firm) with diversity and inclusion at the forefront of its core values.

“As an immigrant, a mother, a licensed architect, a sustainability professional and a minority-woman business owner, I work every day to lead a purpose-driven organization that will improve sustainability within the real estate sector and the world at large,” says Horton. “For me, purpose means being driven to leave the world a better place for my children and future generations. The U.N. cited recently that we only have about 11 years left to prevent irreversible damages from climate change. We must treat it as an immediate global emergency, and I feel very motivated to act and leverage all the resources at my disposal to scale efforts on a global scale.”

While managing a growing staff of sustainability professionals, 85% of which are women and people of color, Horton works to provide meaningful mentorship and internship opportunities to those aspiring to join the sustainability and ESG consulting industry. In addition to participation on numerous sustainability committees, Horton finds the time to teach sustainable real estate at the University of San Diego—ushering in the next generation of real estate professionals who place sustainability and social responsibility at the forefront of their work.

Through her climate activism, Horton has sought ways to better position buildings and spaces as a positive force for change in the climate crisis. To scale her impact, she launched the Verdani Institute for the Built Environment (VIBE), a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating change and moving toward a globally resilient and sustainable future through education, research and collaboration.

Odetta MacLeish-White, Managing Director, TransFormation Alliance
South Atlantic region

Odetta MacLeish-White is driven by purpose in everything that she does, from supporting her family to volunteering for USGBC to the powerful work she does focused on equity as the Managing Director of the TransFormation Alliance (TFA). TFA is a partnership of nonprofits, government agencies and businesses working to strengthen communities through transit. TFA’s work is driven by racial equity and seeks to partner with residents of impacted communities in shaping better health, climate and economic outcomes through arts- and culture-based community engagement, as well as by improving housing, transit and jobs access.

MacLeish-White says that “having purpose means having a direction and guiding principle for every aspect of your life. Each project or endeavor reflects a purpose, which should be considered and established from the beginning. Purpose is both a way of approaching life (doing those things which advance your worldview and goals) and a strategy for engaging others and yourself (the intention you bring to designing and starting anything). One thing purpose does not mean is rigidity. A purpose that is grounded in kindness and mutual success can bend without breaking.”

Prior to joining the TransFormation Alliance, MacLeish-White was a Senior Program Director with Enterprise Community Partners in its Southeast market. She supported comprehensive community stabilization efforts around the country, with a focus on equitable transit-oriented development initiatives and nonprofit capacity-building in Georgia and the Southeast. MacLeish-White has also served as a community development specialist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and was the staff director for Florida's Affordable Housing Study Commission. She discovered her love for affordable housing while working for a developer in Gainesville, Florida.

MacLeish-White uses purpose as a mantra to stay grounded in her work and life. “As an advocate for racial equity, I often share that my purpose is to create a world in which my Black son and daughter can live out their purpose without fear of physical harm or death,” she says. “This vision is a perpetual engine machine that propels me through physical and emotional exhaustion, and when I start to feel that my work is too diffuse or the outcomes too far in the future, it is a centering mantra that grounds me and helps me decide where to place my energy.”

Allison Anderson, Founder and Principal, Unabridged Architecture
South Central region

Allison Anderson’s purpose is driven by her experience addressing the devastation after hurricane Katrina. She says her aim “is not to create monuments, it is to change systems so that people and the environment have greater capacity to adapt to climate change.”

Her life was irrevocably changed in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina washed away new buildings designed with sustainability at the forefront, splintering heavy timber like matchsticks and scattering materials for thousands of feet. “Sustainability wasn’t enough,” she states. “We needed to design for longer service life, especially in coastal and flood-prone communities. We needed to think about where we were building, in addition to what we were building. Trawling through the wreckage to learn why buildings failed was the start of a long journey of research and collaboration to learn more about hazard mitigation and climate adaptation. The urgency of this crisis gives me a sense of purpose.”

Anderson’s goal is to help architects, community leaders and advocates understand what can be done to design for accelerating hazards and to repair the ecosystems that protect communities. She has worked with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to develop a nine-course series on resilience and adaptation and worked on crafting the AIA Climate Action Plan. “But there is more work to be done,” she adds. “Architects are good at imagining alternatives and backcasting to separate the seemingly overwhelming changes into manageable steps that connect the present with a desirable future. We have to start now.”

August M. Ball, CEO and Lead Consultant of Cream City Conservation
West North Central region

August M. Ball lives her life intentionally with a guiding focus of purpose. She is the founder, CEO and Lead Consultant of Cream City Conservation, a two-pronged social enterprise. First, Cream City Conservation and Consulting works with environmental, corporate and community-based organizations to address internal cultures and practices that contribute to racial homogeneity. Second, the Cream City Conservation Corps provides paid training and work experience to young adults 15–25 years of age, whose social identities are underrepresented and inequitably represented in various conservation, agriculture and green infrastructure industries. The Corps program is supported by profits from the consulting firm, fee-for-service contracts and community partnerships.

Ball enjoys traveling the globe, cooking and avoiding burdock and poison ivy while hiking with her fur-child Marvin, the pit bull. In her own words: “When I think of purpose, I think of value creation. In every decision I make, I ask, 'What value will this create in the world?' My purpose is tied directly to my personal mission and vision statement. My mission is to inspire people who inspire people, to live socially and environmentally just. My vision is a city, a country, a world filled with generations of planetary denizens and social justice advocates.”

Purpose drives leadership of USGBC's September sheroes