Chairman of the Board

Dhamo Dhamotharan is the former Group Chief Executive at AECOM, the global engineering, environmental, consulting, and construction management company with over 90,000 employees.

During his 40-year career with AECOM and it’s legacy companies, he held multiple senior executive roles, managing operations, strategy, mergers & acquisitions, post-merger integration, and business/client development. His final role with the firm involved overseeing their Global Enterprise Client Accounts, working directly with senior executives and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies - a $6bn revenue line.

In 2001, Dhamo originated AdvaTech, a $3bn joint venture between AECOM and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries focused on reducing sulphur emissions in power plants, managing the venture until his retirement in 2019. He also originated and managed the AECOM Tata companies teaming venture from 2005 - 2019. During the course of his career, Dhamo traversed the globe visiting more than 80 countries in the course of his work.

Prior to AECOM, Dhamo worked for the state government of Tamil Nadu, India, and as a Research Fellow at the University of Minnesota. He currently serves on the Dean's Advisory Board for the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota and the Board of the children’s education non-profit, Pratham. Dhamo has held leadership roles in several professional organizations, including Secretary of the American Water Resources Association and Chairman of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America.

Dhamo holds a Ph.D. in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of Minnesota, a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Civil Water Resources from the University of Madras, India, and is a registered engineer in multiple U.S. states. He received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the University of Minnesota in 2005 - the highest distinguished honor awarded to the university’s alumni.

Board Member, Industry Expert

Rajan Sheth retired from Mead & Hunt in February 2022. He was the Chairman of the Board from 1994 to 2020, whilst also serving as the CEO of the firm from 1994 to 2018. His history with Mead & Hunt, however, began long before his tenure as CEO. For more than 40 years, he had been involved in a wide array of challenging civil engineering projects for the company. Raj takes tremendous pride in his work. His passion for ethical growth, caring for people, and the impressive results Mead & Hunt has seen since 1994 speak to his strong leadership.

The 24 years Raj spent at the helm of the firm were characterized by unprecedented company growth. Raj led initiatives to further diversify the architectural and engineering services the company offers while expanding its marketplace across the country. Since 1994, Mead & Hunt has grown through acquisitions from two to 30+ offices nationwide. The growth of the firm continues under Raj's successor, showing the strong growth culture now imbedded in the company leadership and employees. The number of employees has grown from 130 to more than 1,000, and the company’s billings have increased from $10 million to over $300 million.

Mead & Hunt’s current position is, in large part, a credit to Raj’s innovative and steadfast leadership. Mead & Hunt has consistently ranked as one of the top 100 consulting firms in the country by ENR. The company was named among the top 25 best civil engineering firms to work for in the country by CE News. Mead & Hunt also consistently made the Zweig Group Hot Firm’s Top 100 list, indicating that the company’s prodigious growth did not come at the expense of company culture.

Raj currently serves on the Board of Directors for several private consulting engineering and architectural firms. With his knowledge of the AEC industry as well as his passion for employee ownership of privately held firms, Raj continues to provide valuable guidance to these growing companies. He also is an advisor and mentor to CEOs of several companies.

Raj also served on the Industrial Advisory Board of UW Madison College of Engineering as well as on the Board of Trustees for the UVA College of Engineering. He was also a trustee of ACEC Retirement Trust until October 2021. He was the commencement speaker at the graduation of the class of 2018 at the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science, University of Wisconsin, Platteville, Wisconsin.

Board Member, Industry Expert

Jeff Goldfarb is a proven, strong leader of large, global M&A, finance and accounting organizations. He held several senior positions at Jacobs Engineering (now Jacobs Solutions) during his time with the group between 1998-2021, including SVP - Global Controller and SVP - Corporate Development. He worked closely with the CEO and CFO to drive financial and structural improvements, led an 800-person global finance and accounting team, and oversaw all aspects of the firm's acquisitive growth.

In his final role with Jacobs before his retirement in 2021, Jeff led the firms global M&A activity including deal-sourcing & development, deal execution, due diligence, integration, and strategy. He played a pivotal role in Jacobs successful transformation from a traditional engineering company to a solutions-based firm. As a central part of this transformation, he led Jacobs through two of the most transformative and successful transactions in the industry’s history - the $3.3bn acquisition of CH2M in 2017, and the $3.3bn divestiture of Jacobs Energy, Chemicals, and Resources Segment – and was directly involved in dozens of other notable transactions, adding over 60,000 to the firm's workforce globally.

Jeff began his career at Deloitte before moving to the NYSE-listed firm ICF Kaiser Inc. – at the time one of the largest engineering, construction, program management, and consulting services companies in the US as CFO of the firm’s construction and engineering division.

He now has his own business, focused on consulting, mentoring, ministry, and board roles. He is on the board of CBMC (Christian Business Marketplace Connection), which focuses on discipling and helping businesspeople live out their faith through their business roles. Jeff is a graduate of Virginia Tech. He and his wife Marlene have three children and a daughter-in-law.

Board Member, Industry Expert

Ashraf is a senior financial executive with broad US and international experience in the AEC industry, currently serving as the Global Finance Transformation Director at the €3.4bn revenue, 30,000 employee AEC firm, Arcadis NV.

In a career of nearly three decades, Ashraf is best known for accelerating the growth of top global architecture, engineering and construction firms. Prior to his time with Arcadis, Ashraf served as CFO of the global architecture, planning and design firm CallisonRTKL in their Washington D.C. office. In addition to leading finance and accounting, he served as an integral member of the strategic M&A team to bolster the breadth and strength of the firm in the marketplace.

He joined CallisonRTKL from CHA Inc. in Atlanta where he was Senior Vice President of Finance, responsible for evaluating and establishing systems, infrastructure policies, and improving efficiencies. As a member of the executive team, he led mergers and acquisitions including the due diligence and integration of two major acquisitions. Prior to his time with CHA Inc., he was CFO of International Engineering and Construction for AMEC Foster Wheeler and Regional Controller for URS Corporation (now AECOM), both in Georgia.

At AMEC Foster Wheeler, Ashraf was responsible for all financial aspects of the firms engineering and construction global operations including corporate development, treasury, M&A, tax, finance and accounting, Sarbanes Oxley compliance, strategy, financial planning and forecasting, surety, procurement, and federal compliance.

Ashraf began his career at PwC, becoming a senior audit manager before moving to serve as a financial controller at General Electrics. He earned a Bachelor of Finance from the University of Assiut in Egypt. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a Six Sigma Green Belt. He serves on a local board of Shelters to Shutters, which provides housing and employment to individuals who have lost jobs and are facing homelessness.

Board Member, Accounting & Finance

Tony Bielawski served in EY’s Assurance Practice for 38 years, including 24 years as senior partner, retiring from the firm in 2021.

During his tenure at EY, he served many of the firm’s top multi-billion and middle market clients in the real estate, consumer products, and healthcare industries, and has extensive experience with large and middle market private equity firms. Tony also has significant experience with bank financings, public and private debt and equity offerings, merger and acquisition transactions, and restructurings. He has a strong understanding of working with regulators including the SEC, PCAOB, DOJ, and the OIG. Tony has worked on financing transactions with EY clients that have raised over $6 billion in capital through bank loans, public and private debt and equity offerings including IPOs.

He has deep expertise in M&A and assisted many EY clients that grew rapidly through these acquisition transactions including EY clients that were consolidating fragmented industries.

In addition to client serving roles, Tony held several EY leadership positions. In these leadership roles Tony wasinfluential in getting more than a dozen of high performing candidates, including women and minorities promoted to Managing Director and to Partner. Throughout his career, Tony was also very active in the market and helped the firm win multiple new clients. He also has served as a global client service partner for a multinational client and led assurance, advisory and tax services teams achieving double digit annual growth in all EY services for this client in the United States, Canada, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and China.

Following his retirement, he acts as a C-Suite and Board of Directors advisor to several companies that are in the start-up and early growth stages.

Tony is a Certified Public Accountant in Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, and Ohio as well as a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is a graduate of Bowling Green State University (BSBA 1983) and the Executive Programs at the Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School and the Harvard Business School Strategic Leadership Programs. Tony has also served on the boards of several charities including, the Nashville American Red Cross and the Atlanta Executive Council for the Light the Night Walk event for the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Society.

Board Member, Legal

Perry Bendickson began his long distinguished legal career at international law firm Milbank LLP, before moving to become a partner in the New York office of McDermott Will & Emery prior to his relocation to New Mexico in 1989. In New Mexico he was the managing partner of Sutin, Thayer & Browne, and one of the founding partners of the New Mexico office of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. Before his retirement in 2023, Perry served as the Chairman of the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin & Robb, P.A.

Over a forty-year M&A legal career, he worked on a wide variety of buy-side and sell-side assignments in industries ranging from software and defense engineering services, to cement manufacturing and distribution, with transaction sizes ranging from the millions, to hundreds of millions of dollars. He has extensive experience in securities and finance transactions, and has represented private equity funds, venture capital funds, and other collective investment vehicles in their formation and in their investments in portfolio companies. He has represented numerous companies in private placements of their debt and equity securities, including preparation of disclosure documents and qualification for state and local registration exemptions. He also structured project finance transactions and public-private partnerships.

Perry has been included in ‘The Best Lawyers in America’ in multiple categories for more than 20 years and has been named ‘Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyer of the Year’ and ‘Albuquerque Public Finance Lawyer of the Year’. He has been listed in Chambers USA America’s Leading Business Lawyers in the corporate/commercial category since 2003, in which he was cited for “the speed, energy and efficiency of his work, his sound business judgment, and his encyclopaedic knowledge of the law.” and is now listed as a ‘Senior Statesmen’ in the field of corporate law. He is also listed in Southwest Super Lawyers for his experience and expertise in mergers and acquisitions. He holds an “AV” rating, the highest, from Martindale-Hubbell.

Perry has served as the board chair of the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce and the vice chair of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. He has also served on the boards of economic development groups in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and several arts and hunger relief organizations. He was the Honorary Consul for France in New Mexico for 17 years. He has sat on the American Bar Association, Business Law Section, Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity and Venture Capital and Legal Opinions Committees

Perry is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Amherst College and was a Fulbright Scholar.

Founder & Principal

Phil has been involved in design and construction for nearly two decades, establishing a multi-award-winning luxury real estate developer in 2006. Phil curates and leads teams of world-class engineers, architects, consultants, and contractors, and guides them with a clear, singular vision to create best-in-class developments.

The firm were recently awarded four awards at the prestigious International Property Awards - most notably their ‘Vantage’ scheme being named ‘Best Residential Development’, and ‘Best Architecture Multiple Residences’. The development also won ‘Design of the Year’ 2023 at The Developers Club Awards. The company’s digital presence was also recognised, winning ‘Best Real Estate Website’ at the Web Excellence Awards 2023, and ‘Best Developer Website’ also at the 2023 International Property Awards. 

Phil began his career in offshore finance with the Royal Bank of Scotland International (RBSI). During his time with the group, he had exposure to RBS Group’s board-level executives and gained extensive experience working on projects within the bank’s treasury, operations, and corporate finance teams.

During his near two-decade development career, Phil has worked closely with consultants and designers across the full spectrum of competencies, from geotechnical and structural engineers, architects and interiors designers, acoustic and soil consultants, through to lighting designers, and is passionate about the role that detailed and comprehensive planning plays in the success of construction projects of all sizes. 

Phil is responsible for investment sourcing and valuation, transaction structuring, acquisition financing, fundraising and all administrative activities.