Bring Smartegies experts to your next event.

Smartegies speakers bring a disciplined point of view on how AEC firms grow and compete, grounded in clarity, alignment, and confident decision-making.

Judy Sparks, Katie Cash, and Donna Graybill lead Executive Speaking Sessions, delivered in person and virtually, speaking individually and together to offer complementary perspectives across a range of topics that help AEC leaders, CMOs, and marketing teams make choices that hold up under real market pressure.

Book them now to speak at your conference or event.

Speakers

Judy Sparks

CEO & Founder

Judy Sparks is a nationally respected advisor to AEC firm CEOs and executive leadership teams. She helps leaders clarify growth direction, sharpen positioning, and make decisions that materially affect revenue, reputation, and long-term relevance.

At Smartegies, Judy works at the highest level of organizations navigating growth inflection points, market shifts, mergers, and leadership transitions. Her perspective is shaped by decades of advising architecture, engineering, and construction firms across markets and economic cycles, with a focus on aligning strategy, leadership judgment, and go-to-market clarity.

Judy is known for cutting through noise, challenging assumptions, and helping leadership teams focus on the few choices that truly matter.

Katie Cash

Senior Vice President

Katie Cash is a senior growth and business development strategist with more than 15 years of experience serving the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. She brings an owner-minded perspective to how firms position themselves, pursue work, and compete in complex markets.

At Smartegies, Katie works closely with firm leadership, marketing, and business development teams to translate strategy into disciplined execution. Her experience on the owner’s side at the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission gives her firsthand insight into how teams are evaluated, shortlisted, and selected.

Katie is also the host of AEC Marketing for Principals, a widely followed industry podcast focused on how firm leaders think about marketing, business development, and growth.

Donna Graybill

Communications Strategy Lead

Donna Graybill is a seasoned communications and marketing strategist who helps AEC firm leaders clarify how they think, what they stand for, and how that shows up in the market. Her work sits at the intersection of thought leadership, executive visibility, and business development.

At Smartegies, Donna leads communications strategy for firms navigating growth, repositioning, or market expansion, including Walker Architects, NELSON Worldwide, H. J. Russell and Company, Motz Engineering, and HGOR. She works directly with senior leadership and marketing teams to translate technical expertise and strategic intent into clear, credible narratives that support pursuits, reputation, and long-term relevance Donna’s background also includes working in firmwide communications at Gensler, supporting the lifestyle sector across multiple regions, translating diverse market, client, and studio perspectives into a coherent voice that held up at both the firm and regional level. She also brings a national and global perspective, having lived and worked in New York, Washington, D.C., and across multiple European markets.

Topics We Cover

These are just a few of the sample topics we cover in our speaking engagements.

Evolving Marketing in AEC

How marketing has moved from a support function to a strategic growth driver, and what firm leaders need to rethink to stay competitive.

Modern Business Development Strategies

Clear approaches to qualification, relationship-building, and long-term account development in a changing buying environment.

The Art of the Pitch

How to structure proposals and presentations that resonate with decision-makers and support confident, disciplined pursuit strategies.

Leveraging Technology & Partnerships

How firms are using platforms such as HubSpot, Mailchimp, and OpenAsset to support growth, alignment, and visibility without adding unnecessary complexity.

Building High-Performing Marketing & BD Teams

How roles, expectations, and accountability align to create focus, momentum, and measurable performance.

Audience-Specific Executive Learning Sessions

Customized sessions developed for firm leadership, marketing teams, business development professionals, technical leaders, and industry groups, shaped around the decisions each audience faces.