Leslie Duke

CEO-Elect
President
Houston Region General Manager
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A proven leader in the workplace, industry and throughout Texas, Leslie Duke has paved the way for countless employee-owners, community members and local students through her mentorship and leadership.

Leslie has spent her career strengthening and supporting the communities in her home state and across the U.S. An entrepreneur at heart, she joined our company in the late 1990s as an engineer in the Houston office’s transmission and distribution services group, inspired by the employee ownership model. Since then, she’s held five leadership positions and helped establish six offices. Through her dedication, vision and passion, she has helped grow our employee base in the region from fewer than 10 to more than 1,000. After having led our firm’s largest region, Leslie has been elected by board of directors to become the firm’s eighth CEO in history, effective Jan. 1, 2024.

In the community:

Leslie is passionate about giving back and encourages those around her to do the same. She supports organizations including:

  • Greater Houston Partnership Infrastructure & Resiliency Advisory Committee chair, executive board member
  • United Way of Greater Houston, board member
  • Texas Tech University Dean’s Council, emeritus member
  • Executive Women’s Partnership, member
  • Texas Association of Business, member
  • Junior Achievement of South Texas, former board member
  • North Dallas Chamber of Commerce, former board member
What’s something most people don’t know about you?

I was run over by a Volkswagen beetle in a McDonald's parking lot when I was 3 years old. I can solve the Rubik's cube. My husband Travis and I owned a ‘New Mexican’ food restaurant many years ago.

How do you and your team make the world a better place?

In Texas, we are working on clean energy projects in all our divisions: solar, battery, hydrogen and clean fuels. We have a strong environmental team focused on air quality. We are supporting a client in their pursuit of going back to the moon and we are installing infrastructure at a major airport to create a more reliable experience for those traveling to Houston. Everything we touch is making the world a better place to live, work and play.

What’s the coolest part of your job?

The people I get to work with. Every day I meet a new employee-owner. Their backgrounds are all so diverse, so unique. Each brings a new, refreshing and often global perspective to the work we do and drivers fueling it.