Elissa Sturdivant

My career in project management spans over 20 years, beginning when I was living in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I met Terry Sheckles who needed an office manager at Fort Bragg for healthcare construction they were doing out there. She asked me to come out just as an admin-type person, and I joined her and just fell in love with construction and watching it all come together. I followed her to Union County to help with Union Regional Hospital, and eventually continued on with Carolina's healthcare system, which is now Atrium Health, where I spent about 20 years and grew through the ranks. Today, I work at Strata Project Management Group where we act as an owner's rep for clients so they can focus on their day job. I manage the construction management, the GCs, as well as the fulfillment team which includes cabling, furniture procurement, and all of that, so that whenever the owners show up to their new location, it's just a turnkey experience. I do a lot of non-profit projects, which I absolutely love because I feel like that's my way of touching the rooftops. Knowing that something as simple as making sure that the space is ready for them truly impacts other lives in a different way. The non-profit work is probably what gets me going the most. I also work on vascular clinics and other projects, but the projects are so intimate because they're client-driven. The clients are coming to you to help you realize their dream, and knowing that I have an impact on that is amazing.