Before the Storm, Beyond the Moment: The 2026 Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership Award

By Luke Carothers 
 
The sun was beginning to disappear behind the mountains as people made their way into the Jordanelle Ballroom at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley. Through the windows, the last light of the day stretched across the Jordanelle Reservoir and the surrounding mountains. 

Inside, the Black Tie Awards Gala was set to get underway. Award winners walked the red carpet dressed for the occasion, and the ballroom was filled with hundreds of people ready to celebrate. More than 140 awards and recognitions would be handed out before the night was over, representing some of the best firms, projects, and people in the AEC industry. 

Still, there was one announcement that carried a different kind of anticipation.  

The Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership Award was the final major award still to be announced, and, unlike the other awards celebrated that night, only one name would be called.  That night in Park City, the name was Jerry Hebert, CEO of Grace Design Studios. 

The Story Behind the Courage 

The Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership Award recognizes someone in the AEC industry who has overcome obstacles and help move their firm toward a new level of success. Role, discipline, and firm size don’t matter. The award centers on the decisions leaders make when the way forward becomes difficult. 

Jerry Allen knew more than most about those decisions. As CEO of Carter & Burgess, he helped grow the firm from roughly 200 employees and $17 million in revenue in 1988 to 2,300 employees and $381 million by 2002. Along the way, he became known as an innovative leader and a mentor to others in the industry. 

Allen died from colon cancer at 62, but the firm he helped build and the people he influenced carried his impact forward. The award bearing his name has done the same. 

This year, that legacy led to Hebert, whose own career spans nearly four decades of growth, change, and decisions that have shaped the firm now known as Grace Design Studios. 

Before the Storm 

Sometimes, courage involves a whole lot of computer power. Literally. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina was moving toward the Gulf Coast. Hebert told his team in Baton Rouge to order 20 computers, which seemed odd in the days before the impending storm. The decision would double the company’s number of workstations, but Hebert was adamant, and the computers were acquired. 

Soon, his reasoning became clear. Katrina smashed into Louisiana and devastated communities across the state while scattering AEC professionals throughout the region. Hebert opened his office to displaced architects who needed a place to work. He opened his home too, taking in an architect whose own house had been flooded. 

A Long View of Leadership 

When another crisis arrived in early 2020, Grace was prepared before Louisiana shut down. Employees had monitors and equipment at home. This meant projects kept moving, and clients never missed a deadline. 

Preparation has served Hebert well but so has patience. He joined the firm in 1987 when it had fewer than 15 people. Today, Grace Design Studios has more than 500 professionals working from 25 offices in 13 states. The firm also generates roughly $150 million in annual revenue. 

That growth took nearly four decades. New markets sometimes required years of relationship-building before the first project arrived. New offices began with commitments to clients in communities that needed the firm nearby. Through downturns, Hebert and his partners sometimes gave their own paychecks to keep people employed. 

The result is a firm built one relationship, one project, and one long-term decision at a time. 

A Leader Worth Celebrating 

Before Hebert walked to the stage, the lights dimmed, and the screens were filled with stories from the people who have worked alongside him. Their stories brought life to the talk of firm growth, major projects, and pivotal decisions, shining light on the person behind them. 

“He’s always thinking of the best. How can we make this better,” said Cat Kogel, Senior Associate and Business Manager at Grace Design Studios. “He does his best to make everybody happy. He’s truly caring.” 

Vispi Karanjia, Partner and CPO at Grace Design Studios, put Hebert’s philosophy simply: “Do good. Be great.” 

When the video ended, Hebert made his way to the stage to accept the 2026 Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership Award. 

It was a fitting moment after an evening spent celebrating achievement across the AEC industry. Hebert’s career has taken him from a small Louisiana architecture practice to the helm of a 500-person firm with a national footprint. Along the way came hurricanes, downturns, new markets, new technologies, acquisitions, and countless decisions about where the firm should go next. 

Through it all, the qualities described by his colleagues remained remarkably consistent: optimism, care, patience, and a belief that things can always be made better. 

Nearly four decades after joining the firm, Hebert is still looking ahead. And on a night dedicated to celebrating the people shaping the future of the AEC industry, everyone in the room had the chance to celebrate how far that approach has already taken him. 

source https://zweiglist.com/before-the-storm-beyond-the-moment-the-2026-jerry-allen-courage-in-leadership-award/