Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, has announced that Jenni Betancourt, AIA, WELL AP, LEED AP BD+C, GGP, NCARB, has been promoted to director of sustainability and will execute and oversee Dewberry’s corporate sustainability initiatives.
Betancourt has over 20 years of experience and joined Dewberry in 2006. She consults internal and external stakeholders across the country on projects with high-level sustainability and net-zero energy goals and manages complex commercial, higher education, library, and community facility architecture projects. Betancourt has played a key role in the firm’s history of reaching sustainability benchmarks for clients, including working on various projects that have achieved Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED®) certifications, net-zero energy design, and decarbonization goals. Some of her key projects include the LEED Gold-certified Engineering Innovation Building at the University of Illinois Chicago and the LEED Gold-certified Countryside City Hall and Police Headquarters in Countryside, Illinois, which was the first municipal building in the state of Illinois to achieve net-zero energy certification by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI).
In her new role, Betancourt will support and expand upon Dewberry’s sustainability solutions, goals, and initiatives; including the firm’s long-standing commitments to industry such as the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) 2030, to which Dewberry has been a signatory since 2008, and the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure of which Dewberry is a charter member.
“I am honored to step into this role,” says Betancourt. “Sustainability and wellness are passions of mine personally, and I’m fortunate to be able to apply these passions in my practice by supporting our people, projects, and clients at Dewberry. I look forward to continued collaboration with our many dedicated professionals and clients to advance sustainability practices and strategies.”
Betancourt received her professional bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Arizona (1997). She is a member of the Green Business Certification Inc., Illinois Green Alliance, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, Northeast Illinois Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and U.S. Green Building Council.
