The Kleinfelder Blog

Nick Fontaine, who recently completed DBIA’s education and certification testing program, explains.

Nick Fontaine, PE, a Principal Professional in our San Diego, CA office, recently obtained his certification as a Design-Build Professional by the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA). Nick was a member of the class that piloted Kleinfelder’s Alternate Delivery Program – a program that provides advanced Alternate Project Delivery (APD) training and preparation to obtain DBIA certification.

Having completed the education and certification program, Nick, who is also a member of Kleinfelder’s Spectrum Committee—a 12-person, self-nominated committee established to cultivate diversity, inclusivity, and equity within Kleinfelder through education, awareness, and promoting an inclusive culture—points to the commonalities of DBIA and Spectrum.

“The design-build approach is relatively new,” he said. “It’s disruptive to the status quo and an improvement on business as usual.”

Like the design-build approach, Spectrum evolved to what it is today due to leadership’s recognition that we need to explore business as usual to identify opportunities for meaningful change within our own operations and the communities we serve. Since change requires dedicated leadership, the Spectrum Committee was convened, much as how DBIA was formed to advance a change in project delivery methods within the industry.

“While DBIA challenges traditional approaches of project delivery to bring about better solutions, the Spectrum Committee is challenging our company to be a better workplace for all of our colleagues” Nick says.

The approach to advancing change and achieving better outcomes has a shared basis for DBIA and the Spectrum Committee – diversity and inclusion.

“DBIA understands that collaboration and diversity of thought is key to innovation and successful project delivery,” Nick explained. “Rather than operating in silos, the design-build approach brings all disciplines to the table, harnessing the knowledge and perspectives of all team members to spark imagination, enhance coordination, and achieve more successful project delivery.” Similarly, the Spectrum Committee is a representation of the diverse staff at Kleinfelder and invites participation, dialogue, and suggestions from all Kleinfelder staff. Nick explained that the Spectrum Committee is committed to giving everyone a voice. “We recognize that passion, participation, and diverse perspectives of all staff offer an even better work environment for our team members, improved projects for our clients, and positive change within our communities.”

Both DBIA and the Spectrum Committee are pushing boundaries and redefining standard practices to achieve better outcomes. Nick noted that in the past, our industry had a reputation for not being very progressive. “It’s refreshing that’s changing,” he says. “Working in infrastructure offers all of us an opportunity to improve the world through the work that we do, and organizations like DBIA and corporate programs like Spectrum are evidence that positive changes are taking place. Like many others, I’m excited to be a part of our industry’s evolution, and I’m honored to help us grow technically and socially.”