Ann McGauran is the Tennessee State Architect, with a remarkably broad view across roughly 110 million square feet and billions of dollars of capital work. She trained as an architect, crossed to the owner’s side in higher education, and moved from there into state facilities leadership. 

In this episode, Ann sets out what the job asks of someone standing between technical decisions and public leadership. Listening comes first: understand the environment someone else is working in before offering them a solution. And buildings, she says, are not the end goal. They exist for the people, programs and public services inside them.