PQS MEMBER PROFILE
Watch, listen, learn A P3 industry leader reflects on the impact of early mentors
Marie Foley PQS, LEED AP, MRICS, was born in Toronto, but moved back and forth between Ireland and Canada while growing up. She studied at the Limerick Institute of Technology, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Quantity Surveying as well as a Diploma in Construction Economics and Management. Following a co-op placement, she joined Helyar & Associates, which later merged with two other firms to form the Altus Group in 2005. She joined BTY Group in 2015 as the Director of P3 Advisory Services in North America. She now leads BTY’s P3 Advisory Services Business Unit and heads the firm’s office in Toronto. Over the past 19 years she has led technical due diligence services on more than 100 Design-Build-Finance-Maintain P3 projects across Canada, the US, and Turkey. Marie frequently presents at international industry events and is recognized for her leadership in mentoring and advocating to advance the leadership of women in infrastructure.
I
have been extremely fortunate throughout my career to have mentors who inspired me and modelled leadership. I joined Helyar & Associates as an intern in Toronto in 2000, with their cost management team. Healthcare projects were plenty and so I began with measurement and estimating. The firm was an exciting place in which to work. I was given a solid technical foundation – big projects, problem solving, and the opportunity
to get involved in nearly anything that was happening in the office. It was an environment where I understood my technical role and how I fit into the bigger team; one that also gave me the opportunity to observe my leaders closely. There, the firm mentored me on coordinating teams and facilitating meetings, long before I would ever have occasion to do so. When I was wrong, they told me so, and I quickly learned not to take it personally.
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They took me along to meetings, workshops, and presentations, before I had anything to add, so I could watch, listen, and learn. They weren’t only developing my professional skills; they were cultivating my understanding of how they worked together to grow the firm. With P3’s ramping up around 2003, I began getting involved in Technical Advisory Due Diligence services under the careful watch of a new mentor. His leadership style was different than I had experienced before, but very effective. Under his guidance I learned new technical skills, including working on different social infrastructure assets: justice, education, recreation, culture, and transportation. I was able to shadow him closely for many years, and watched how he handled meetings with multiple stakeholders, coaxed information, delivered bad news, and managed client expectations. He took the time to explain both technical and soft strategies, and I often needed lots of explanation. He had great patience for To return to Table of Contents CLICK HERE
