John Rooney

John Rooney is the Area Director of Economic Inclusion for Gilbane Building Company's New York and Mid-Atlantic Divisions. In this role, he works to build up diverse-owned and small businesses in the construction industry and connect them to work on Gilbane's vast project portfolio. A 14-year industry veteran, John brings a unique passion to his work, prioritizing “impact over optics.â€' He believes the construction industry holds vast potential to promote positive economic impacts for underserved firms and workers and that large builders like Gilbane can play a significant role in realizing this potential. 

John has been instrumental in driving national commitments that have established Gilbane as an industry leader in economic inclusion—from the across-the-board 20% minimum goals on Gilbane projects to the pledge to award $4 billion to underserved businesses over the five years ending in 2026.

Before joining Gilbane, John served as a regulator at NYC EDC for seven years, holding the builders of NYC accountable for meeting equity goals, and started the agency's ConstructNYC program, a business accelerator program for minority- and women-owned contractors.

John serves on the board of BOC Capital – a nonprofit lender financing diverse-owned and immigrant businesses. He is a Coro Fellow, completing the Leadership New York (LNY) program in 2020. He also represents Gilbane as an Ascend New York's anchor council member. This consortium advocates participation by minority-owned NYC firms and includes such esteemed institutions as Columbia University and JPMorgan Chase.

John has an MBA from Yale School of Management and a BS in Financial Economics from SUNY Binghamton. John was recognized by City & State New York's Real Estate & Construction as one of its 40 under 40 in 2021. He was named one of Crain's New York's Notable LGBTQ Leaders in 2022.