DES Announces Dawn Jedkins and Waibun Lee as Co-CEOs
REDWOOD CITY, CA (September 12, 2025) – Dawn Jedkins and Waibun Lee are the new Co-CEOs of DES Architects + Engineers. The Co-CEOs are entrusted to lead the firm to continued growth and design excellence within the ever-changing commercial real estate market. The two have long been leaders at the firm as Associate Partners and the heads of multidisciplinary teams. The company is adopting this new leadership structure to benefit from their combined strengths and breadth of experience.
“Working alongside both Dawn and Waibun all of these years made this such an easy decision,” said former President Tom Gilman. He and former CEO Steve Mincey, both of whom assumed those roles in 2003, are now serving as Executive Partners at the firm. With this leadership transition, the goal is to refine and expand the business model, adding more structure to strategy and operations while retaining what already works. “To continue our upward trajectory, we’re focusing on making our teams more agile for faster-paced projects, prioritizing the repositioning of existing spaces,” said Dawn. “We’re drawing on our ground up expertise when reimagining these spaces.”
The two new heads of the company see a bright future, as their complementary skills and strengths will continue DES’s momentum. “I am energized by curiosity, creative thinking and the drive to make things happen,” said Waibun, who has earned a reputation for tenaciously pushing forward ideas and initiatives and for taking decisive action. “And I admire Dawn’s strategic mindset. She’s also a natural at bringing together diverse decision makers to accomplish common goals.”
Dawn and Waibun started at DES one month apart in the summer of 1996 and are among the many DES “lifers,” a rarity in almost any industry in 2025. “It’s been a fabulous organization to be a part of,” Dawn said of her 28 years at the firm. “We feel grateful for what Steve and Tom have built here.” All four leaders proudly tout DES’s tight-knit, diverse and collaborative culture as the force that drives success. “In this time of hybrid work, our core value of ‘connection’ resonates more than ever, building the relationships needed for success in the future economy,” said Steve. The Co-CEOs aim to maintain this culture, creating space for opportunity and advancement.
Dawn’s and Waibun’s careers progressed with the rapid surges, shifts, and reinventions of the local tech and biopharmaceutical industries as the backdrop. Waibun is credited with leading the firm’s early adoption of technology, integrating it across the company from design processes to IT. In 2020, he founded LightFiction, a specialty graphics and visualization studio and DES subsidiary, to expand the firm’s creative capabilities. Dawn has been integral in the design and master planning of large-scale, life science and office campuses. Such experiences prepared them to lead the company, as advances in AI and other evolving technologies reshape the industry, necessitating curiosity and the entrepreneurial spirit to meet rapid change head-on.
Waibun earned his bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley and is LEED AP-licensed. Originally from England, Dawn earned her bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Lincolnshire in Hull. She is LEED AP-licensed and serves on the Board of Directors of the Chamber San Mateo County as well as on the City of Redwood City Architectural Advisory Committee. “These two intelligent and hard-working leaders have the right mindset and experience to lead us forward,” says Steve. “They’re ready!”
Founded in Silicon Valley as an integrated architecture and engineering firm in 1973, DES’ history has been rooted in collaboration for the last 53 years. In partnership with our clients, we have pioneered approaches to the design of sustainable campuses, innovative buildings, and all the spaces in between. DES is headquartered in Redwood City, with two additional offices in San Francisco and Austin, Texas. With projects spanning commercial development, tech campuses, life science research facilities, innovative workplaces, and educational spaces, our teams are ready to take on challenges of all types and scales. With a reputation built on integrity, strong communication, and technical expertise, clients trust us for our ability to manage complex teams and aggressive timelines, leading to long-lasting partnerships.
