It wasn’t mapped out in advance.
Elisa Davies’ path to the executive suite at HDR Inc., the Omaha-based global architecture and engineering firm, was not the culmination of an elaborate plan.
Culminating in becoming HDR’s executive vice president and general counsel, Davies’ journey came about due to her “pioneer spirit.”
As the granddaughter of pioneers who homesteaded in western Nebraska and the daughter of entrepreneurs, Davies carries a legacy of grit and determination.
“That pioneer spirit really resonates with me,” she said. “I am driven to push boundaries, and I want to do it in a way that’s impactful.”
Her journey began in an unexpected fashion. Entering Coe College on a theater and singing scholarship, Davies thought she might be destined for the stage. Self-described as “driven by curiosity,” Davies said a history class at Coe changed everything. She fell in love with history and couldn’t get enough classes. Then one professor in particular, Rosemary Carroll, Ph.D., encouraged Davies to consider law school—not to practice law, but to become a better historian.
“Law school teaches you to be critical from different perspectives,” Davies explained. “It’s about balancing history with the future, balancing analysis with experience, and balancing good judgment with emotional intelligence.”
At HDR, Davies leads the global legal team of more than 20 legal professionals. Davies’ leadership philosophy is designed to foster teamwork by creating space for diverse strengths and viewpoints while maintaining overlapping responsibilities.
She lovingly describes them as a “big band full of unique instruments.”
“Rather than us having solos, we’re all playing together,” Davies said. “That philosophy of teamwork by design is meant to leverage all the diverse strengths and points of view and subject matter expertise, and have these overlapping tiers of responsibility so we have resilience and backup strength to rely on each other and have a safe space for peer-to-peer consultation.”
Davies came to HDR as general counsel and senior vice president in 2021. There she found a corporate culture that aligns with her values. She said the company’s employee-ownership model, in which the company is 100% owned by employees and success is shared by the people who work to create it, leads to what she calls a “culture of listening first and collaboration” among its more than 13,000 employees.
Earlier this year, Davies was promoted to executive vice president, which came as both an honor and a surprise.
Davies serves as a key legal counselor to HDR’s executive leadership team and board of directors. During board meetings, she acts as corporate secretary, writing and introducing resolutions for the board. Minutes before a recent meeting was to start, the CEO pulled her aside and asked her to add a resolution to the agenda promoting her to her current role as executive vice president. She felt honored, of course, but she also appreciated how the company prioritized her department.
“We’re a company that wants to do things right,” she said.
While a basis in engineering, architecture, math, and physics may seem like HDR is all about following the rules—“a lawyer’s dream,” Davies joked—she has found the company to be extremely “fulfilling and inclusive.”
Davies’ human-focused leadership style stems from her varied professional experiences. One that stands out was when she was a new mother working at Union Pacific. Davies was invited to participate in a trip through the Tehachapi Mountains in California in a hi-rail truck, which rides along the tracks for maintenance and inspection. A nursing mother, she was concerned she would not be able to make the trip, so she reached out to the manager of track operations to arrange accommodation for breaks.
“He arranged for some old train depots that had been abandoned for the electric to be turned back on so I could take 20-minute breaks every few hours,” she recalled. “It goes to show that we can be driven and we can be human. We can ask for help, and there are plenty of really awesome, thoughtful people who will help us along the way if you just make yourself vulnerable and ask for the help that you need.”
This experience shaped her perspective. Today, she greatly appreciates the culture and workplace dynamics at HDR.
“People are highly respectful of each other’s professional opinion. There is this deference to other people’s points of view. It’s made up of subject matter experts,” Davies said. “I’ve really appreciated their openness to amplifying emotional intelligence and harnessing the power of things that are softer than logic and softer than math and softer than physics.”
Before joining HDR, Davies left her mark on one of Omaha’s most treasured traditions.
Now a board member of the College World Series of Omaha, Davies worked on the deal to extend the College World Series’ tenure in Omaha. While at Koley Jessen, a local law firm, Davies helped negotiate the deal among the city of Omaha, the NCAA, CWS Omaha, and the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority, which operates the stadium where the annual tournament takes place.
“It was extremely exhausting and extremely intense. But it was so fun, so educational to see these titans of the NCAA and the city of Omaha and MECA and lots of the local contributors around the table hammering out this gigantic deal,” Davies said. “That was…really fun.”
Alongside her high-powered role, Davies maintains a deliberately balanced life. A couple years at a law firm in the Cayman Islands taught her the benefits of living slowly. Davies and her husband, Drew, prioritize quality over quantity in everything they do.
“Our kids live in our lives, we don’t live in their lives,” Davies said of her family’s approach to balance. “My husband and I have full-time jobs that are very demanding. They are part of our identities and we care about them. Our children are involved in things, but we try to carefully select how much they participate in so there is balance. We have dinner together almost every night. We have downtime on weekends. We have rest.”
This philosophy manifests in family traditions, which includes regular travel and the Davies family’s annual Halloween art project, where all four family members collaborate on elaborate costume creations, complete with professional lighting, makeup, and photography.
“You have to be really deliberate about not subscribing to the expectations of the American rat race,” she said.
Her appetite for adventure hasn’t diminished with the rise of her executive responsibilities. Davies still sings—at home, in the hallway, in her car—and she is an avid sailor, scuba diver, photographer, coffee drinker, weight lifter, nature lover, and bird watcher.
When the family travels, they make a point of intentionally going completely off the grid—“no cell phone tower for hundreds of miles”—as often as possible. Experiences have included visits to Botswana and the Amazon rainforest.
In all her endeavors, Davies strives to create space for others to grow while remaining true to her pioneering roots. Whether in the boardroom or the Amazon rainforest, she continues to push boundaries with purpose, proving that effective leadership isn’t about choosing between being driven or being human—it’s about embracing both.
“My career has been driven by curiosity and pursuit and open-heartedness and open-mindedness and problem solving,” Davies said. “Those elements that the pioneers needed to survive on the plains.”
For more information, visit hdrinc.com.
This article originally appeared in the February/March 2025 issue of B2B Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
