Born and raised in Olinda, Brazil, Roberta learned English as a second language in elementary school and improved her fluency during a semester abroad at college. Roberta thought of becoming a doctor; however, after witnessing a live surgery during a high school career program event, she changed her mind. Her love of math and aptitude to putting things together made engineering an easy choice. During her young student days, she strived to outperform her goals and help others achieve theirs. She was ultimately able to transfer her college credits from her Brazilian Federal University to George Mason University in Fairfax, VA where she obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil and Infrastructure Engineering and was the only female in her graduating class in 2002.
Her working career started in building and construction management where she worked as an intern, project engineer, assistant project manager and eventually started managing her own projects. The projects ranged from small renovations, infrastructure and new buildings throughout the DC/MD/VA region in private, healthcare and government sectors. After her 12+ year tenure in the construction industry, her experience with healthcare projects led her to Inova Health System.
At Inova, she started by managing small renovations at the Fairfax Hospital Campus and successfully completed last year the Inova Schar Cancer Institute and the Inova Mather Proton Therapy Center; a state of the art 430,000SF Cancer facility including specialty Radiation Treatment and a comprehensive spectrum of supporting cancer care treatment options. During these last 7+ years at Inova she managed over $360M of capital projects and it led her to her current position as Director of Design and Construction for the Inova Eastern Region Facilities.
When Roberta is not at work, she dedicates her time to her boy’s school and sports activities. She enjoys spending her time at school events and volunteering for their sports teams. She also makes sure her boys experience her Brazilian roots by taking them to Brazil and teaching them Portuguese.
With 20 years of experience, Roberta is passionate about her professional career and strives for excellence in her daily activities.