American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois welcomes new board members
The American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois (ACEC Illinois) recently welcomed a new slate of members to its board of directors as it continues to advance the interests of engineers, architects, designers and engineering companies across the state.
ACEC Illinois is the only statewide association dedicated solely to advocating on behalf of consulting engineering firms and is currently made up of over more than 220 consulting engineering firms representing 16,500 employees.
“We are pleased to welcome these distinguished individuals with extensive experience in engineering and infrastructure development to our board,” said Kevin Artl, president and CEO of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois. “Their contributions will be invaluable as we work with policymakers to advocate for engineers and engineering firms across the state and ensure that our state’s transportation and infrastructure network continue to be funded, repaired and modernized now and in the years ahead.”
New members of the ACEC Illinois 2026-2027 board of directors’ executive committee are:
Board chair – Laura McGovern (Benesch): McGovern is the chief process and innovation officer at Benesch where she leads firmwide efforts to optimize production processes and keep the company current with industry trends through technology initiatives, project management and company knowledge sharing. She previously led the Illinois division’s civil and electrical group at Benesch, working on high-profile projects including the Jane Addams Tollway reconstruction. For more than 30 years, she led the Illinois MathCounts Program, a national competition for middle school students which enabled engineers and engineering firms to interact with students and encourage them to pursue the STEM curriculum. McGovern is also the board chair of the Illinois Engineering Initiative, which works to retain engineering talent in Illinois through scholarships.
Board chair-elect – Amar Rajpurkar (Parsons Corporation): Rajpurkar is vice president/Mid-Central regional manager at Parsons Corporation and the new chair-elect. He has more than 30 years of experience in the engineering and architectural industry, holding leadership positions in project design, project management, operations, sales and office administration. Most of his career has been focused on the transportation field, serving transit, rail, aviation and highway, while supporting the water, wastewater, and water resources practices in the greater Chicagoland and Midwest regions. He has been involved in every phase of project development, including planning, design, and construction on architectural, infrastructure, and environmental projects of all sizes and complexities.
National director – Linda Moen (EFK Moen): Moen is the owner and president of EFK Moen LLC where she is responsible for the overall operational and financial management, in addition to business development, engineering design and personnel management. A former board chair of ACEC Illinois, she is a civil engineer with many years of experience. She previously worked as an engineer with the Missouri Department of Transportation and has served on many boards including Habitat for Humanity, Lutheran Foundation and ACEC Missouri. She earned her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Missouri – Columbia.
Alternate national director – George Ghareeb (TERRA Engineering): Ghareeb is senior vice president at TERRA Engineering where he is responsible for leading a diverse group of engineers and technicians. He began his career with the Illinois Department of Transportation’s (IDOT) Bureau of Bridges and Structures as a bridge management engineer. He currently serves as the head of operations at TERRA’s Peoria Office. His projects include a $400-million rehabilitation of I-74 in Peoria, a corridor study for the Eastern Bypass through Peoria, and several other traffic and transportation projects. He holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in civil engineering from Bradley University.
Secretary/treasurer – Thomas Hein (HDR): Hein is vice president at HDR where he coordinates programmatic project delivery objectives while working directly with HDR teams across the nation. He helps facilitate program growth, quality technical deliverables, resource allocation and strategic program initiatives in TMT markets within the Building Engineering Services group. He started his career as a design engineer and served previously as associate VP/design section manager and vice president/area manager at HDR. He earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering from Valparaiso University, Ind.
PAC chair – Harvind Singh (Singh & Associates): Singh is president at Singh & Associates where she directs the strategic vision for the firm and manages all aspects company operations with a strong emphasis on company culture while facilitating growth, expanding the firm’s presence throughout the Midwest and Pacific Northwest and integrating effective management practices. She is known for her advocacy for bolstering diversity within the industry as evidenced by her recent appointment to the State of Illinois Diversity Task Force on Disadvantaged Business Enterprises, Minority Business Enterprises, and Women Business Enterprises.
In addition to the new executive officers, ACEC also named 12 directors drawn from companies across the state to represent ACEC Illinois for the 2026-2027 term.
They include:
- Stacie Dovalovsky (senior vice president at Primera Engineers in Chicago);
- Jeff Ball (president and COO at Hanson Professional Services in Springfield);
- John Clark (executive vice president and co-founder at Peralte-Clark in Arlington Heights);
- Natalia Homedi (founder, president & CEO at Atlas Engineering Group in Deerfield);
- Paul Kovacs (principal at Bowman Consulting in Lisle);
- Clinton Ferguson (vice president at GFT Infrastructure Inc. in Chicago);
- Brad Riechmann (vice president at Horner & Shifrin in O’Fallon);
- William Klingner (chief financial officer at Klingner & Associates in Quincy);
- Jeff Large (director at Crawford, Murphy & Tilly in Springfield);
- Michael Zorn (vice president at H.W. Lochner in Wheaton);
- Megan Elberts (managing principal at Gasperec Elberts Consulting in Downers Grove); and
- Divya Singh (senior vice president at WSP USA).
About the American Council of Engineering Companies
Representing hundreds of companies, it is the voice of the engineering industry in Illinois. With roots dating back more than 100 years, ACEC Illinois represents more than 16,500 engineers, architects, land surveyors and other specialists. Its primary mission is to strengthen the business environment for its member firms through government advocacy, political action, and business education. For more information, visit www.acecil.org.
