Carina Mills is a lifelong facilitator and wellbeing advocate. She helps leadership teams, boards, and project teams have the conversations that move work forward: a performance review that builds trust, a plan a board can rally behind, a training program that turns emerging leaders into teachers, or a coaching session that helps a leader see their strengths clearly. A licensed architect, she spent the first half of her 20+ year career in design and construction, so she knows firsthand the deadlines, budgets, and jobsite realities that shape how AEC teams work.

What makes her an effective facilitator is that she’s a translator at heart. Carina is a natural systems thinker. She moves easily between design teams, construction crews, and boardrooms and turns what people need into language that leadership can act on. She has built people and culture programs across multiple firms, guided governance redesign as 2025 President of AIA California, and coaches leaders one-on-one and in teams as a certified Gallup Strengths Coach. She founded BrightSpark to bring that work to more of the industry, because when people enjoy their work, their work gets better