- Green Building News
- Posts
- Career-Accelerator Edition 📬Green Building
Career-Accelerator Edition 📬Green Building
Charlie Cichetti
July 27, 2025
Volunteer to Lead: Committees, Mentors & Career Momentum
Smart strategies. Sharp stories. Sustainability that sticks.
Intro: Career-Accelerator Edition 📬
Summer may be winding down, but committee-sign-up season is heating up. Professional boards, standards panels, and local chapters are recruiting fresh voices right now. Pair that visibility with intentional mentoring—whether remote or face-to-face—and you’ll have the fastest path to influence, learning, and network growth as offices repopulate. This issue is your playbook.
A MESSAGE FROM SKEMA
Tired of spending months turning schematics into BIM?
Skema.ai lets you do it in minutes (yes, really). This AI-powered tool takes your existing Revit, ArchiCAD, or IFC files and creates fully-integrated BIM models faster than you can say "value engineering." Already trusted by TVS Design and other industry heavyweights.
Want BIM in minutes, not months?
FIELD NOTES
💡 Volunteer Leadership Builds Leaders — Stepping into unpaid roles sharpens communication, decision-making, and executive presence while expanding your network, according to The Power of Volunteer Leadership on LinkedIn.
🤝 Mentorship Supercharges Retention — A Chronus ROI study found 72 % of mentees and 69 % of mentors stayed with their companies, versus just 49 % of non-participants.
🌐 Hybrid Mentorship Works — Harvard Business Review shows that clear goals and structured check-ins make virtual mentoring as effective as in-office programs—and often more inclusive (HBR).
🔄 Reverse Mentoring Goes Mainstream — From law firms to airlines, pairing junior talent with execs is flattening hierarchies, surfacing blind spots and injecting fresh tech savvy, reports Forbes.
BUILT TO LAST
Volunteer Your Way Into the Inner Circle
Signal Commitment
Serving on LEED, ASHRAE, or GBCI committees proves you help shape standards—not just follow them.
Grow Practical Skills
Chair a subcommittee to sharpen project-management and public-speaking chops in a low-risk setting.
Expand Your Network
Work shoulder-to-shoulder with the people who influence bids, hires, and partnerships.
Mentor and Be Mentored
Volunteer forums make it simple to find both a seasoned guide and a newer pro you can lift up. Two-way learning cements community trust and drives better project outcomes.
Action Step: Identify one organization you respect. Apply for an open committee seat this week, then schedule a 30-minute mentoring chat—give or receive. Calendar space beats good intentions.
RETROFIT THIS
TOOLS DOWN
Committees and mentoring aren’t side gigs; they’re strategic levers. Volunteer now, mentor boldly, and let your influence compound.
✍️ Brian Bollinger, our Head Writer, helps sustainability pros turn volunteer hours into leadership pipelines.
Charlie Cichetti, our Fearless Leader & LEED Fellow, built his career on 5-a.m. committee calls and still mentors next-gen LEED APs every week.
Let’s Green Up together.
Are you excited to read next week's newsletter? |