Staff Spotlight: Emily Hand
By Jordan Klotzle
Verdical Group’s Staff Spotlight series highlights the incredible contributions that each of our team members make through their expertise. The series is also a great way to delve into what our team members do on a day-to-day basis to mitigate the climate crisis.
Meet Emily Hand, Verdical Group’s Director & Chief of Staff! Emily started out as an intern in 2014 and became Verdical Group’s first-ever employee. She worked with the team for an initial three years before leaving to pursue other opportunities, but ultimately returned to VG in 2018 and has been a crucial member of the team for the last five years. Emily earned her B.S. in Natural Science and Environmental Studies from Loyola Marymount University, and holds her LEED AP BD+C, Fitwel Ambassador, and Green Globes Professional credentials.
As the head of our Client Solutions team, Emily is responsible for business development and project management across our multiple teams and many projects. She coordinates proposal efforts in pursuit of new project opportunities, including meeting with clients and new prospective partners to discuss collaboration possibilities. In addition to this, she also works with the rest of the management team to ensure that our staff have the resources they need to best serve our clients and contribute to VG’s continuous improvement.
Aside from winning exciting new projects for our team to work on, Emily’s work on proposals helps further the firm’s mission to inspire a net zero future.
“We’re constantly having conversations with clients and partners to discuss their sustainability goals, and we have a lot of opportunities to suggest specific goals that they might not be considering already,” she explained. “Our role is to make the project more sustainable and educate the team around those objectives, and all of that contributes to lessening our footprint and creating high performance buildings.”
Emily has contributed to many projects throughout her tenure with the firm, but is especially partial to those that have utilized the design-build process. Two of her favorites are our Los Angeles Valley College Academic Complex 1 and Los Angeles Pierce College Academic West projects, both of which are collaborations with VG’s close partner, Pankow Builders.
“I love the collaboration and the team building that occurs early on in the project,” Emily shared. “On both of these projects, we are able to understand the end user, Los Angeles Community College District, and their goals and needs. It sets the project up for success right from the beginning, and is a really fun process.”
The diversity of Emily’s daily tasks is one of her favorite components of her role with Verdical Group.
“No two days are the same; I’m constantly problem-solving and collaborating with our internal team as well as clients and partners,” she said. “I just love getting to be a part of working with such a diverse array of people and projects.”
Click here to learn more about the many sustainability services our team provides, or click here to find out about employment opportunities with Verdical Group.
Still have questions? We have answers! Please reach out via our contact page, and a member of our team will connect with you as soon as possible.
