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It’s a pretty safe bet that September 2014 will be a date Jill Sherman will remember. That’s when she was named a partner and shareholder in Portland-based Gerding Edlen, one of the nation’s premier green real estate development firms.

Sherman joined Gerding Edlen in 2003. She brought to her role a solid background in multifamily affordable housing, expertise she developed while working for a nonprofit community development corporation.

Of the 15 Gerding Edlen projects that have earned platinum certification in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating program, Sherman has been hands-on with five of them. She also has been an integral part of the firm becoming a leader in trying new ways to approach development projects.

鈥淚 focus on public-private partnerships,鈥� Sherman said. 鈥淚f a nonprofit needs a new building or a new space, but doesn’t know how (to do it), that’s when I work with them to get creative and find real solutions.鈥�

Her project portfolio includes Lifeworks Northwest, an in-treatment mental health and addiction recovery facility for Lifeworks Northwest, a drug-free housing project for Home Forward that required several years to come to fruition and the Pacific Northwest College of Art historic renovation of an old U.S. Post Office building in downtown Portland.

Sherman is just as passionate about community involvement as she is about development, working with both city commissions and industry groups like the Architecture Foundation of Oregon.

鈥淭hese are organizations where I can not only lend my experience and expertise, but learn from,鈥� said Sherman.

鈥淚t’s about people,鈥� she added. 鈥淭he people I work with 鈥� my partners, engineers and designers, people from all kinds of backgrounds on the boards I’ve been on and the projects we’ve developed 鈥� that’s what makes every day I go to work a lot of fun.聽I’m excited to see things grow, especially when an area or a building is redeveloped or repurposed.聽We’re among the firms that are bringing Old Town Chinatown and Broadway back to prominence in the city.聽 I really love being a part of that.鈥�