Marjorie Wolfe, president and founder of Wolf Water Resources, leads a women-owned business of scientists and engineers specializing in riverine and floodplain ecosystem restoration. The firm, which Wolfe founded 11 years ago, works collaboratively with partners to restore natural processes while addressing challenges including flooding, fires and erosion.

Wolfe served as lead consulting engineer on the Steigerwald Floodplain Reconnection project in Washougal, Washington, the first-of-its-kind initiative implementing engineering solutions that work with natural processes. The firm’s innovative approach has streamlined permitting and reduced costs for projects including sewer systems that enhance stream corridors.

Under Wolfe’s leadership, Wolf Water Resources has attracted international attention, with urban stream resilience and river floodplain restoration projects gaining interest from clients in England and New Zealand. The 33-employee firm is 90 percent women-owned.

Wolfe co-founded the Women in Leadership Symposium, creating opportunities for professional development and networking. She regularly mentors women in her field and partners with other women-owned firms.

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Pam Saftler and Mandy Butler are principals and owners of TVA Architects, a Portland-area firm specializing in architecture, interior design and planning. Together with partner Tim Wybenga, they lead a 25-person team that has served clients for 41 years.

The women-owned firm, which achieved COBID certification in August, maintains 67 percent women ownership. Saftler and Butler have focused on creating an equitable workplace culture and supporting emerging architects through mentorship programs that extend from elementary schools through college.

Under their leadership, TVA Architects has diversified its project portfolio across multiple markets while maintaining strong client relationships. The firm emphasizes work-life balance and provides pathways for professionals returning to the field after career breaks.

Saftler and Butler have positioned women in key leadership roles throughout the organization. They participate in career fairs, informational interviews and job shadowing programs to promote design and construction careers to students and underrepresented groups in the profession.

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Kathleen Stuart, founder and principal strategist of PUBLIC, leads a 100% woman-owned Oregon firm dedicated to advancing the public good through strategic advocacy campaigns.

Growing up in Alaska, Stuart learned the power of uniting people behind shared ideas. She has spent her career helping advocacy leaders shape public opinion, mobilize supporters, and build lasting power. Stuart has worked alongside teams across Oregon on campaigns that secured historic funding for schools and protected healthcare access through collaboration across coalitions, agencies, and communities.

In 2025, Stuart relaunched her firm as PUBLIC after eight years in the advocacy field. The firm provides strategic campaigns, practical tools, and team training to help leaders tell stories that move people and create change. Stuart is developing new training resources specifically for women working behind the scenes in advocacy and movement-building, addressing a critical gap in support for those building power in their communities.

PUBLIC operates with a core team of three strategists and a national partner network.

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Lisa Keohokalole Schauer is president of PointNorth Consulting, a Native Hawaiian, women-owned strategic communications firm she founded seven years ago. The company specializes in public relations, community engagement, leadership and organizational development, facilitation, and marketing.

As a sixth-generation Native Hawaiian, Schauer built PointNorth around values of kuleana (responsibility), pono (doing what’s right), and aloha (breath of life, love, peace, compassion). She leads an 18-person team focused on building trust, amplifying voices, and guiding communities through values-led change.

A woman of color who spent her career in the architecture, engineering and construction industry, Schauer created Live Your North, a framework inspiring individuals and organizations to align purpose with leadership. She prioritizes psychological safety and fearless authenticity in her workplace culture.

Schauer mentors women leaders, particularly women of color and LGBTQ+ women, and invests in organizations that elevate women and girls. She creates spaces fostering connection, vulnerability and belonging beyond traditional networking.

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Mary Larkin, principal engineer at Northwest Watersheds LLC, leads a civil engineering firm specializing in water resources, stormwater engineering design and stream restoration projects. She launched the Beaverton-based company in early 2020, navigating startup challenges during pandemic shutdowns while transitioning from engineering expertise to business ownership.

Larkin has built a collaborative workplace culture with eight employees, fostering professional development from entry-level engineers earning licensure to senior staff advancing into business development roles. The firm has evolved from subcontracting work to leading projects as prime consultant across diverse water resource initiatives.

Throughout her career in the male-dominated engineering field, Larkin worked part-time while raising her sons and observed gender disparities in compensation and advancement. She channels these experiences into supporting other women through mentorship with Women in Environment, sponsoring the Women in Leadership symposium, and partnering with women-owned businesses on consulting pursuits. Northwest Watersheds is certified as 51 percent woman-owned.

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Kathy Fry, principal at Mayer/Reed, leads the 28-person woman-owned landscape architecture, urban design and visual communications firm based in Portland. Fry co-owns the studio with fellow principal Shannon Simms, overseeing a team where women hold two of three principal positions and five of eight associate roles.

The 48-year-old firm recently completed numerous projects while advancing conversations around downtown vitality through the Streets of Possibility initiative and several City of Portland improvement projects. Mayer/Reed relocated to the Power + Light Building, where the studio hosts rotating art displays, sketching sessions and guest speakers.

Fry and her team maintain woman-owned business certifications and work across diverse project types with repeat clients. The firm’s leadership actively participates in professional organizations including SEGD, ASLA, City of Possibilities and AFO. Mayer/Reed’s workplace policies address pay equity and flexibility for dual-career households, supporting continued diversification of the design profession through representation and mentorship.

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Esther Liu, chief executive officer and president of LSW Architects, leads a 70-year-old architecture, interiors and urban planning firm in Southwest Washington.

With more than 30 years of experience in the profession, Liu has transformed the 27-person firm into a 51-percent woman-owned business committed to creating inclusive work environments. She established flexible work arrangements that allow team members to reduce hours to as few as 20 per week while maintaining full benefits, addressing the rigid structures that often drive talented women from architecture careers.

Liu founded the Women Leadership Luncheon, a biannual gathering of 12 to 20 community women leaders from Southwest Washington that fosters connection, mentorship and collaboration. She actively participates in numerous women’s leadership groups, strengthening women’s presence and influence in the architecture industry. Under her leadership, LSW Architects has navigated economic challenges in the Pacific Northwest by diversifying services and strengthening client relationships while maintaining the firm’s commitment to equity and professional development.

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LRS Architects is a majority women-owned architecture and interior design firm based in Portland and Bend. Founded in 1976, the practice has evolved from an entirely male-founded company to 67.58 percent women-owned, demonstrating what president and managing principal Trish Nixon and her leadership team describe as an open-minded approach to ensure future success.

The firm specializes in automotive, civic, commercial office, multifamily housing, retail and senior living design, with projects spanning more than 30 states and international locations. More than 100 design professionals create spaces focused on human well-being through empathy, creativity and collaboration.

LRS has been recognized as an Oregon Top Workplace annually since 2016 and holds a JUST Label from the International Living Future Institute since 2021. Recent projects include Travel Portland’s New Visitor Center, The Springs at Happy Valley and Parkview at Terwilliger Plaza, which received a 2025 PHIUS Award.

The firm is certified as a Women’s Business Enterprise through the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.

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Ariane Le Chevallier, founder and chief executive officer of LC Strategies, leads a Portland-based communications consulting firm partnering with public agencies and mission-driven organizations to drive social change through strategic communications.

Le Chevallier founded the company five years ago, launching the business during the COVID-19 pandemic to create greater professional flexibility while maintaining meaningful client impact. Under her leadership, the women-owned firm has grown to five employees.

The firm recently earned recognition from the National Association of Government Communicators, winning the Blue Pencil & Gold Screen award alongside Urban League of Portland and Home Forward. LC Strategies has supported more than 10 grand openings and groundbreakings for affordable housing developments across Oregon.

Le Chevallier actively mentors communications professionals interested in entrepreneurship, coaching them on business planning, contract negotiation and rate-setting. She also teaches strategic communications through Portland State University’s Continuing Education program, developing the next generation of communications professionals in the heavily female-dominated field.

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Marilee Hanks, managing director of Anderson Krygier Inc., doing business as Knot Studio, leads a women-owned transdisciplinary design practice specializing in landscape architecture, environmental graphic design and environmental justice. During her nearly 11 years of leadership, the Portland-based, 34-year-old firm has grown to 14 employees and increased revenue to $2.5 million in 2024.

Hanks led the site planning and landscape design of the U.S. Consulate General in Guadalajara, an award-winning project blending diplomacy, sustainability and cultural sensitivity. She also directed the design of Portland’s Washington Park Reservoir visible features, which balances historic preservation with accessible public space. Both projects reflect Hanks’ commitment to lasting, inclusive, and resilient design.

Hanks supports women through mentorship and public speaking, recently addressing University of Oregon students on women in landscape architecture. She has built a leadership team balanced across gender and race, with women leading the firm’s environmental graphic design practice and business operations.

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