Business
Profile: Deryl McKissack – owner and CEO of McKissack and McKissack, Architects & Engineers
Deryl McKissack, president and CEO of McKissack and McKissack. PHOTO/Cliff Owen/AP
Deryl McKissack is the owner and chief executive officer of the D.C.-based McKissack & McKissack, a woman/minority-owned business that specializes in architecture and interiors along with project and construction management.
Her grandfather, Moses McKissack III of Tennessee, launched the family’s construction business 107 years ago. Eventually, her father William DeBerry McKissack, inherited the business and brought along his three daughters. While the girls – all of whom went on to excel in architecture and engineering – it was Deryl McKissack who had her sights set on grander visions of entrepreneurship. So in 1990, armed with US$1,000, she jump-started her own venture in her hometown of Nashville, building it into the bustling company it is today with offices in D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami.
