Project leadership, on-call consulting, and leadership development for the people who build things — owners, contractors, developers, and the teams who build with them.
Lighthouse CMC takes select third-party engagements alongside larger programs — for clients who need experienced judgment on a specific situation, not a full program. Whether it's troubleshooting a project that's stalled, a forensic look at how one went off the rails, or coaching a team through a tough stretch — sometimes you just need to bring in someone who can see the whole board.
Lighthouse CMC pairs three decades of construction leadership with a boutique model. Clients work directly with the principal — someone whose core strength is cutting through complexity: building consensus among parties at odds, troubleshooting projects in trouble, and reconstructing, forensically, how things went wrong so they can be put right.
The practice serves the full range of parties who deliver complex construction: owners and public agencies, contractors and builders, developers, and the design and project-management firms they work alongside — anywhere consistency, candor, and judgment matter more than headcount.
Each engagement is structured around a clear mandate, scoped to fit your existing team, and led directly by the principal from start to closeout.
Day-to-day stewardship of complex projects — keeping budget, schedule, scope, and risk in alignment from feasibility through closeout. Whether you're the owner, the builder, or the developer carrying the risk, Lighthouse embeds in your team and is fluent in the realities of public-sector, institutional, and private delivery.
Select third-party engagements alongside larger programs — a focused review, a few site visits, or coaching for a tough stretch. For clients who need experienced judgment on a specific situation: a fresh pair of eyes, a difficult contractor or owner, a dispute to head off, or design and construction teams that aren't speaking the same language.
Leadership development for project delivery teams, built on the Lighthouse framework. Direct coaching and structured engagements that help managers lead complex work without micromanaging — with measurable improvements in trust, accountability, and team effectiveness.
Three proprietary frameworks that shape how Lighthouse engagements are structured, taught, and evaluated.
A leadership model for technical project work, organized around three pillars that reinforce one another.
A four-stage cycle for project leadership built on the conviction that movement reveals the right path. Good enough gets you sailing — better keeps you stuck in port.
A delivery model built on three project phases and three delivery roles, weighted equally. Counters the bias toward construction-phase attention by giving planning, execution, and closeout — and the people who lead each — the same standing.
Melissa founded Lighthouse CMC after thirty years inside California's construction industry — most recently as Assistant Director of Project Delivery at UCSF, where she led a team of fourteen across capital improvement projects on an active academic medical campus.
Earlier in her career, she ran the Technology Division of one of California's largest electrical contractors, with full P&L responsibility. Across both worlds — owner-side and contractor-side — her work has centered on the leadership and structure that determine whether projects actually deliver, beyond the schedules and budgets that document them.
Her particular strength is reducing seemingly complex problems to their essence — building teams, building consensus among the parties who don't naturally trust each other, troubleshooting a project that's gone sideways, and conducting the forensic analysis that reconstructs how it got there. She founded Lighthouse to bring that focus directly to the teams delivering complex construction, without the overhead of a large firm.
Engagements are scoped individually and accepted on a selective basis. Reach out with a brief description of your project, your role, and timeline — Melissa will respond personally.
