Servant Leader and Just Label Advocate

ILFI is proudly featuring a series of member impact stories to showcase and celebrate the exciting work of our community. In this month’s interview, we are pleased to feature Shiloh Butterworth, Oregon Region Leader and Chief People Officer with PAE Consulting Engineers, servant leader, and Just label champion.

When Shiloh Butterworth retired from the U.S. military in 2015, he was presented with a new but not unfamiliar challenge: inspire people to do great work by connecting them with a larger mission. He transitioned to his current role leading people and culture at PAE, the Oregon-based sustainable engineering firm, and set to making changes with the support of CEO Paul Schwer. Soon after joining, Shiloh sought to secure a Just label for PAE, ILFI’s program for organizational transparency and equity. But Shiloh wasn’t just interested in transparency, he wanted to set the bar: “You don’t want to give merit to good intentions. You have to measure success.”

PAE’s 2022 Just label.

The first step was tackling gender diversity. PAE became the first large engineering firm to roll out a gender neutral paid leave program in 2016. They tackled pay-scale equity and living wages, of which they rank highly in the Just label’s equity indicators. Any Just organization will tell you that the transparency of the label is an inherent motivator for improvement. For PAE, pursuing Just provided valuable lessons and prompted healthy conversation internally. Ultimately, Shiloh shares, “that’s the organization you want to be a part of. Employees want you to commit to action.” 

Along with their mission to address the climate crisis through solving energy and water challenges in the built environment, the actions that PAE has taken to champion equity in their workplace show an organization living its values. This inspires employees to love their work and drive innovation, and PAE’s track record of innovation is not hard to find. The firm touts 17 Living Building projects, showing what’s possible for commercial buildings like the Bullitt Center in Seattle, WA, and the Kendeda Building on Georgia Tech’s campus in Atlanta, GA. The Kendeda building proved to be a new challenge for regenerative design for the PAE team with satisfying results. “When you create a Living Building in places like Georgia with high humidity, we demonstrate to the world that we can create sustainable buildings truly anywhere. Our staff find that type of challenge really inspiring.” 

Georgia Tech’s Kendeda building. Photography by Jonathan Hillyer.
PAE’s team featured in a workplace benefits enrollment campaign: “Rock Enroll”.

As a Living Future Member, Shiloh continues to champion transparency and equity for other organizations in our industry. Last year, he joined ILFI’s Organizational Equity Technical Advisory Group (TAG), a member-led taskforce informing the evolution of the Just program. In this role, Shiloh has contributed valuable insights on how to thoughtfully approach revisions to Just’s program indicators as ILFI works towards launching a new iteration of the label, Just 3.0. 

Shiloh Butterworth is the Oregon Region Leader and Chief People Officer for PAE Consulting Engineers, overseeing the Oregon Region, Employee Experience (HR), Learning & Development, Facility and Administrative Operations, and serves on PAE’s Board of Directors. Shiloh also works with ILFI as a champion and partner for Just, equity, and business transparency. Shiloh is a transformational thought leader on people, organizational culture, and employee engagement. He is passionate about bringing servant leadership to the workplace to help others thrive. 

Originally from Oregon, Shiloh graduated Summa Cum Laude from Rutgers University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Labor and Employment Relations and a Certificate in Workplace Diversity. Shiloh is also a decorated Combat Veteran who retired from the U.S. Army in 2015. Shiloh is fond of sports, paddle-boarding, hiking, and spending time with his family.

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Written By

Liz Harder

Liz manages the Living Future Membership program, helping to expand the growth of ILFI’s membership base & seek new ways to bring value to the Living Future Member community. If you have any questions about becoming a member, you can reach her at membership@living-future.org.