Primera is proud to announce that our Senior Vice President and Director of Business Development, Lourdes Gonzalez, has been selected by Chicago United for their prestigious 2021 Business Leaders of Color (BLC) recognition. The publication showcases 50 civic-minded professionals from Chicago’s business community who inspire and bring success and new transformations to everything they touch. This year’s honorees were selected from a highly-competitive field and honored for their persistent hard work, strong leadership qualities, and dedication to the advancement of their communities.

Lourdes recently celebrated her 20^th anniversary with Primera. As Senior Vice President, she has helped us identify and develop long-lasting partnerships that have helped the firm grow and expand its reputation and brand on a regional level. She is a licensed architect with over 30 years of experience in the building industry and has played an instrumental role in Primera’s sustainability efforts by helping position us as an innovator in the green building movement.

However, what makes Lourdes especially worthy of the BLC recognition is her commitment to serving the community and advancing the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. She serves as the co-chair for Primera’s community service committee and is on the Giving Advisory Council for our STEM-education-focused Primera Foundation. She currently sits on the Uhlich Children’s Advantage Network (UCAN) Governing Board as the Treasurer and Chair of the Property and Finance Committee as is a founding member of Arquitina – an initiative dedicated to raising the 1% of licensed Latina/x women in architecture in the US. She is past president of the Chicago Chapter of The Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) and currently serves on their National Sustainability committee. On top of all of that, she was the Fine Arts Booster President at Maine East High School and has volunteered as a wish granter for Make-a-Wish for years.

Primera is proud of her accomplishments and would like to congratulate Lourdes, and the rest of the 2021 BLC recipients, on their efforts.

Since its first release in 2003, the BLC publication has served as a resource to increase inclusion of diverse candidates on the boards of Fortune 1,000 corporations. Between 2003 and 2019, the publication has featured 420 individuals who dispel the myth that there are not enough qualified, dynamic, visionary and talented executives of color to step into corporate board directorships in Chicago and beyond. Currently, executives featured in the publications over the years fill more than 300 directorships.

Previously, both of Primera’s co-founders, Michael DeSantiago (2007) and Pedro Cevallos-Candau (2009), were honored with the BLC recognition.