Meet your Facilitators
With years of experience, our facilitators help bring a unique experience for everyone who attends the Boot Camp.
Barbara Jackson, PhD, DBIA
After 20 years in industry as a chief estimator, senior project manager, and CEO of Design-Build Services Inc., and another 15 years developing design-build and integrated project delivery education at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo CA, Barbara returned to Colorado where her education and career in design and construction originally began. In August of 2013, Barbara took over the helm as the new Director of the Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management at the University of Denver, in Denver, CO, where she continues to serve.
In 2015, Jackson began delivering Leadership Boot Camps for Women in Construction. Never having widely participated in “women’s only” activities previously in her career, she began to recognize the need for women to step up, and step out, in the construction industry. As a longtime advocate for cultural change of the construction industry, she began to see a clear correlation between the industry’s transformation and its leadership.
After delivering the Leadership Boot Camps for 4-years and seeing the results that such targeted efforts made in terms of women achieving their goals, and being promoted to leadership roles in their companies, and the impact that had on their careers and the companies they worked for, it was even more evident that leadership matters when it comes to initiating and sustaining change. In February of 2019, Jackson founded the initiative Women Building Change under the umbrella of her new company Barbara Jackson LLC, which is dedicated to transforming leadership and culture in the AEC industry. Fundamental to this mission, Barb is dedicated to advancing women in the construction industry. She strongly believes that women in leadership is key to the transformation of the industry that she grew up in and loves. She currently hosts and facilitates several Boot Camps each year and the number of Boot Camp alumni is growing across the country. She is clearly changing the face of the industry, one woman at a time.
In addition to teaching, training, and consulting, she is a nationally recognized speaker on topics related to the future of the construction industry. In addition, she is the author of two books, Construction Management Jump Start and Design-Build Essentials and numerous articles. She has been named Outstanding Educator by Associated Schools of Construction and received the prestigious Brunelleschi Award from the Design-Build Institute of America—the organization’s highest honor. Dr. Jackson is a DBIA Fellow and was inducted into the prestigious National Academy of Construction (NAC) in 2021.
She holds a BS in Housing and Design, a MS in Construction Management, and a PhD in Education and Human Resources from Colorado State University. Barb lives in Parker, Colorado with her husband of 45 years, Wayne Jackson. They have two adult children, Andrea and Jason, and two grandsons. She is a lover of cocker spaniels and has raised 7 cocker spaniel puppies over the years. She currently spoils per pup Rowdy, and her two grandsons Sam and Joe every chance she gets.
– Barb Jackson
Becky Blankenship, FDBIA, PDBC LLC
With more than 30 years of experience in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry, Becky Blankenship has become one of the most respected thought leaders in progressive collaboration and integrated project leadership. Her diverse background across design, construction, and leadership gives her a holistic perspective on how teams think, build, and perform together.
Blankenship began her career serving four years in the U.S. Air Force, where she received foundational training in civil engineering, followed by nearly two decades as an architectural Project Manager leading alternative delivery projects. Her exposure to design-build and collaborative contracting methods during that time sparked a deeper interest in construction management, where she began leading progressive design-build teams more than a decade ago. Since then, she has worked in construction management and executive operations, including serving as Vice President of Operations for the Pacific Northwest with a global construction management firm. In that role, she guided teams, developed partnering frameworks, and shaped strategy across multiple markets. Drawing on that experience, she co-founded Progressive Design-Build Consulting, LLC (PDBC) with two other industry experts to help owners, contractors, and designers navigate the complexities of collaborative delivery.
As Principal and Co-Founder of PDBC, Blankenship now leads teams that help owners and industry partners deliver large, high-impact infrastructure programs through collaboration, trust, and shared purpose. Her firm advises agencies and design-build teams nationwide on governance, alignment, and leadership practices that strengthen relationships and achieve measurable outcomes in cost, schedule, and innovation.
Blankenship’s areas of expertise include progressive project implementation, integrated governance and partnering, collaborative leadership, team alignment, and the phenomenology of leadership in collective cognition—an emerging research focus within her doctoral work in Leadership Studies. Known for her approachable yet deeply insightful facilitation style, she is a sought-after speaker, educator, and advisor to public owners and AEC organizations striving to build stronger, more cohesive teams.
Rebecca attended Barbara Jackson’s Women Building Change Leadership Boot Camp in 2019 and credits the experience as a defining moment in her professional and personal growth. She continues to apply the lessons learned there throughout the industry – through mentorship, education, and coaching – continuing the mission of empowering women to lead with courage, authenticity, and collective intelligence. Blankenship holds a B.S. in Technical Management and an M.S. in Project Engineering and Management, and expects to complete her MBA in 2026 and Ph.D. in Leadership Studies in 2027. She lives in Spokane, Washington, with her family and is the proud mother of five daughters, a granddaughter, and a grandson who live across the United States and abroad.