Build Better With Anastasia Barnes

On season 4, episode 2 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia welcomes Amin Najjar, CEO of Sustainable Buildings at Veolia North America. Veolia’s mission is to resource the world, helping its customers address their environmental and sustainability challenges in energy, water and waste.  Najjar talks about how Veolia is helping companies improve energy efficiency, including upgrading the buildings in the city of Boston to achieve mandatory requirements that are fast approaching, and how these changes can have a lasting impact on the planet in the long term.

On season 4, episode 1 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia talks with Dr. Aisha Francis, the president and CEO of Franklin Cummings Tech in Boston. In 2021, she became the first female president in the more than 100-year history of the college. Dr. Francis believes in the ability of effective organizations and well-supported individuals to transform underserved communities for the better. She shares her dedication to both educating and empowering students in the technical fields, and discusses the mutual benefits for both students and employers that are looking to fill essential roles and create robust teams in the architecture, engineering, and construction fields.

On season 3, episode 4 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia welcomes Luciana Burdi, director of capital programs & environmental affairs at Massport, to discuss her journey, the challenges she's overcome as a woman in a male-dominated industry, and her vision for the future of commercial construction. Additionally, Burdi talks about how Massport has tackled challenges in the wake of the COVID pandemic, the evolving flexible work environment, and the impact of new technology on construction projects.  

Teach to Work: Equipping the Next Generation of Young Professionals On season 3, episode 3 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia welcomes Patty Alper, president of marketing and consulting company Alper Portfolio Group. She is working to address the workforce shortage in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries by educating students through mentorships and meaningful on-the-job experience.  Alper is author of the book, Teach to Work: How a Mentor, a Mentee, and a Project Can Close the Skills Gap in America. On the podcast, she shares how Project Based Mentoring brings together corporate employees, retirees, and businesses as a corps of knowledge practitioners with the common goal of passing on skills to the next generation of business professionals.

In Season 3, episode 2 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia welcomes Christopher Grallert, president of Green City Growers, a company whose mission is to provide inspiring shared experiences for employees, customers, and community members that educate and enable people to grow food sustainably. Grallert shares more about how the team at Green City Growers is furthering their goal of creating increased connection with onsite gardens, and educating the next generation on how to create and maintain local food systems in Boston and beyond.    

On season 3, episode 1 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia talks with Matt O’Malley, the first-ever chief sustainability officer for Vicinity Energy. He discusses Vicinity’s Clean Energy Future, Net Zero Carbon plan, and how the company is working with its customers, communities, and local government to decarbonize its operations across the country and reduce the impact of the energy sector on the earth’s atmosphere.

On season 2, episode 16 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia talked with Reverend Jeffrey Brown, co-founder of My City at Peace and Associate Pastor at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury, and Tom O’Brien, founding partner and CEO of The HYM Investment Group. They recently presented a proposal to the City of Boston for Parcel 3 in Roxbury that would set an example of a truly diverse and equitable development for the city. The bid is one of two that were presented in March. The team’s proposal for the almost 8-acre parcel includes affordable homeownership units that create opportunities to establish generational wealth for the residents of Roxbury, and a life sciences component that supports that goal. Brown and O’Brien shared more about this unprecedented development, and the ways they are ensuring that it will have a positive impact on those that live and work in Roxbury for years to come.

On season 2, episode 15 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia welcomes Marc Margulies, principal and senior partner at Margulies Peruzzi, and Joe Finn, president and executive director of the Massachusetts Housing & Shelter Alliance. They are working to change the ways in which homelessness is addressed in Massachusetts, something that continues to be a complex issue and one that demands immediate solutions.  Margulies and Finn talk about their mission to create an efficient, cost-effective, and replicable model of new construction designed specifically to address the needs of long-term and chronically homeless people in the state.

On season 2, episode 14 of the Build Better Podcast, Anastasia welcomes Meredith Sandland, co-author of the book, “Delivering the Digital Restaurant.” Previously, she served as the chief development officer at Taco Bell, and as the COO of Kitchen United.  Sandland has created and driven disruptive growth at both Fortune 100 and start-up companies, and has spent a decade navigating changing consumer demands and real estate environments for restaurants. She shares more about the recent shifts in consumer behavior, and how the emergence of ghost kitchens and other methods of food delivery are impacting the restaurant industry.

On season 2, episode 13 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia talks with Marc Perras, associate principal at Jones Architecture, and Jon Rossini, project manager at Bond Building Construction, about the new $23 million, 33,000sf building for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA), located on Main Street in Brockton, Mass. The building is the Commonwealth’s first project of this scale, using only public funds, to use cross-laminated timber in its construction. Perras and Rossini talk about the sustainable design elements of the DUA building, and how cross-laminated timber can be used to achieve sustainability goals in a variety of construction projects.

On season 2, episode 12 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia welcomes Barry Reaves, the Boston Planning & Development Agency’s (BPDA) first ever director of diversity, equity, and inclusion. He is responsible for the development and oversight of the BPDA’s racial equity and diversity priorities, and works to establish collaborative partnerships with internal and external stakeholders to foster a more inclusive, equitable, welcoming, supportive, and diverse agency. Reaves shares what the BPDA is doing to encourage minority- and women-owned businesses to participate in contracting opportunities, and the ways industry stakeholders can contribute to achieving equitable outcomes in the long term.

On season 2, episode 11 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia talks with Edward Palleschi, the undersecretary for the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (OCABR) for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Palleschi instituted OCABR’s Licensee Recognition Program, which highlights businesses licensed or registered in Massachusetts. He shares more about the program, and the companies that have been recognized for continuing to reach high standards through their work and commitment to their consumers.

On season 2, episode 10 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia welcomes Jason Jewhurst, partner and principal at Bruner/Cott Architects, and Patrick McKenna, senior project manager at Community Solutions, to talk about the adaptive reuse conversion of the former Swift Gold Leaf Factory in Hartford, Conn. Jewhurst and McKenna share how they reimagined the factory into a venue generating opportunities for job creation and training, educating youth, improving resident health, and spurring economic growth, and how the conversion of these historical buildings can serve as an example for future preservation projects.

On season 2, episode 9 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia talks with Scott Burnham. He is an author, entrepreneur, consultant, and founder of Reprogramming the City, a global initiative encouraging cities to repurpose and reuse existing urban assets to improve quality of life and ecological health.   With the recognition that adaptive reuse is an important approach to sustainability and addressing climate change, Burnham is engaging urban planners and city leaders to create unique ways to respond to limited resources with an abundance of creativity.

On season 2, episode 8 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia welcomes Pascale Sablan, associate at Adjaye Associates in New York City, and the founder and executive director of Beyond the Built Environment, an organization that addresses the inequitable disparities in architecture and within communities most underserved by the profession. Sablan talks about the importance of representation, and the ways Beyond the Built Environment is providing opportunities to advocate for equitable and reflectively diverse environments.

On season 2, episode 7 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia welcomes Dan Diehl, CEO of Aircuity, a company providing accurate ventilation for healthy and sustainable buildings. He talks about the ways both new and existing building projects can have a focus on energy efficiency while prioritizing indoor air quality, and how the pandemic has fast-tracked this important issue, with owners and CEOs urgently seeking solutions as they strive to keep building occupants safe as they return to work.

On season 2, episode 6 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia welcomes Rohan Freeman, founder and president of The Freeman Companies, a multi-disciplinary engineering design and construction services firm in Connecticut.   In 2014, he established the UCONN School of Engineering “Freeman Companies BRIDGE Endowed Engineering Scholarship,” to support minority and female students with an interest in civil engineering who have overcome obstacles such as socioeconomic or educational disadvantage.   Rohan talks about the challenges low-income students face when attending college, and the ways others can provide opportunities for these students to pursue careers in the AEC industry.

On season 2, episode 5 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia welcomes Lisa Ulbrich, vice president for Commodore Builders, a construction management firm based in Boston. In addition to her career in construction, Lisa is passionate about addressing alcohol and substance use disorder. She is a certified interventionist and executive recovery coach, and has personal experience with overcoming addiction. She talks about Commodore's partnership with the Herren Project, and shares how they are helping provide those struggling with substance use disorder a long-term path to recovery. 

On season 2, episode 4 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia talks with Emily Soloby, founder of Juno Jones and co-owner of the AAA School of Trucking. In addition to designing work boots and gear specifically for women, Emily is passionate about advancing women in nontraditional fields.   She started the community, Hazard Girls, a positive and inclusive group of women who connect to support and empower each other online and through educational events and outreach. Emily shares more about the group, including ways to get involved and her encouragement for women in traditionally male-dominated fields.

On season 2, episode 3 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia welcomes Bolanle (Bola) Williams-Olley. Bola is a partner and the chief financial officer at architectural firm Mancini Duffy, the founder of the SheBuilds Movement, and a mom of two. As a CFO, Bola is setting an example for women in the AEC industry. She talks about her passion for giving back and her advice for those wanting to make an impact, through their work or their philanthropic efforts.