Donna began working at Custom Contracting in 1989 and rose through the ranks from administrative assistant to ever greater positions of responsibility, including controller and vice president responsible for strategic planning, IT, finance, legal, and human resources.

In 2022, she became CEO and in 2023 the majority owner of the company, setting the stage for Custom Contracting to earn its highly valued certification as a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) with WBENC, the City of Chicago, and the State of Illinois as a general contractor that also self performs carpentry services. Custom's team consistently demonstrates its capabilities through performance within highly regulated projects, such as occupied healthcare. Every business decision is made intentionally to align with her core values and Custom’s mission of building a healthy place in our world. Donna loves spending time with her family, enjoys working in her yard, hiking, meditation, and meaningful conversations.

Statement:

Let’s embrace supporting equity, diversity, equality, and inclusivity and intentionally train women and people from marginalized communities for all the positions available in the field and office. Let’s live equity and provide everyone with the tools they need to succeed. If you can develop a team where everyone is free to bring their unique gifts and perspectives to the table, it creates the best outcome for everyone and improves our industry. DEI is sustainable when we intentionally embrace equity, a concept that often falls short. To do equity, we must be equity.

In it together, Building a Healthy Place in Our World,