David Rubenstein Interviews Deryl McKissack on Her Namesake Firm’s 30 Years of Groundbreaking Work on Iconic Architecture, Engineering and Construction Projects.

At a time when Black-owned businesses have been failing twice as fast as other companies, Deryl McKissack is celebrating the 30th anniversary of her namesake architecture, engineering and construction services (AEC) firm.

To mark the occasion, entrepreneur-turned-author and PBS host David Rubenstein will interview McKissack on September 25th at 12:00 PM about her trailblazing work on high-profile projects in a field challenged with diversity and inclusion issues.

Deryl is Chief Executive Officer of McKissack & McKissack, managing over $15 billion in projects nationwide. McKissack & McKissack has grown to 150 employees, with offices in Washington, DC, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles.

McKissack is consistently ranked in ENR magazine in the Top100 of Professional Services Firms in the category of Construction Management/PM-for-Fee Firms.

David is a Co-Founder and Co-Executive Chairman of The Carlyle Group. He is Chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Council on Foreign Relations; a Fellow of the Harvard Corporation;a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution; a Trustee of the World Economic Forum;and President of the Economic Club of Washington. He is an original signer of The Giving Pledge; the host of The David Rubenstein Show: Peer to Peer Conversations; and the author of The American Story and How to Lead.

OUR HISTORY

McKissack & McKissack is an outgrowth of the oldest minority-owned architecture/engineering firm in the United States.

Its roots go back to before the Civil War, when a slave named Moses McKissack learned the building trade from his overseer. It was his grandson, Moses III, who launched the first McKissack & McKissack in Nashville, Tennessee. The year was 1905.

McKissack & McKissack was founded by Deryl McKissack in 1990. When Ms. McKissack established her company, she was the fifth generation of her family to carry on the building tradition.

2020

McKissack becomes the first African American firm to win a major contract for the City of Fort Worth, TX. For the first time in history, Fort Worth has selected an African-American, woman-owned firm as the prime contractor for two categories.

2023

In 2023, McKissack secured a contract to provide project and program management consulting services for a three-billion-dollar, multi-year initiative to rebuild and modernize its public-school infrastructure — the largest project and program management award in our 35‑year history.

2025

McKissack earned recognition in ENR’s Top 100 Professional Services Firms for Construction Management/PM-for-Fee and celebrated major project milestones with clients including Chicago Public Schools, University of Illinois, Maryland Stadium Authority, United Airlines, PGCPS, DDOT, ComEd, and Arlington County.

30th Anniversary

OUR HISTORY