Operating at the intersection of primary distribution design, telecommunications, natural gas, and project management, Kimberly Moore has built an engineering consulting firm that generates $15 million in annual revenue.
The Chicago based KDM Engineer has designed over 1,000 power infrastructure projects in Illinois and has worked with clients such as T-Mobile and Crown Castle. Beyond the bottom line, Moore is providing opportunities to girls and underrepresented youth.
“As a black woman engineer and entrepreneur, it is so important for me to show young girls that they can be the engineer or the business owner or both. While having a successful business is a major highlight of my career, I am even prouder of the work we do through my nonprofit, Calculated Genius, Inc., to introduce underrepresented youth to engineering and entrepreneurship,” Moore said about her work empowering girls in STEM.
Moore describes her childhood self as a “tinkerer.” Family members were always recruiting her to put up curtains or set up TVs. During highschool, she excelled in math and science. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Northern Illinois University, where she played Division I basketball. She returned to pursue her passion for music with a master’s in sound engineering. In her early career, she ran her own successful recording studio, 4 Moore Studios.
When Moore ventured into electrical engineering, she found that the field was not accommodating to women. There were no women’s bathroom in the trailer for the design engineering team as there were no women on the team.
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Moore was not discouraged. She climbed up the corporate ladder, helped build a utilities department, and became the company’s leading revenue generator. However, her salary and bonus did not reflect her tremendous contributions to the business’ growth.
“After years of working for companies where I was the only Black woman engineer, I wanted to show the engineering world that I had the chops to claim a seat at the table. It wasn’t easy, but you know what, I am firmly in that seat now,” Moore explained how her experiences inspired her to pave the way for girls and minorities in STEM.
Realizing she could harness her talents and skill for personal gain, Moore set out on her own in 2009. In the midst of the financial recession with few investors or loans, she relied on her own research to build the company.
KDM Engineering earned its first contract in 2012 and was a prime contractor for ComEd by 2015. The firm has since rapidly grown, generating over $15 million in annual revenue and employing more than 100 employees.
It has designed more than 1,000 power infrastructure projects including the billion-dollar Bronzeville Lakefront mixed-use project at the former Michael Reese Hospital site, the Bronzeville Community Microgrid, a smart-meters program and the powering of facilities for companies including WeatherTech in Bolingbrook.
“It’s 2024. I don’t want to be the ‘first’ and the ‘only.’ I’m trying to see who’s next,” Moore says of her fierce support of women and minorities in STEM.
She founded Calculated Genius, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to helping underrepresented youth explore and connect to engineering. The organization funds a summer STEM program for high school students attending Chicago Public Schools and provides scholarships to women pursuing STEM-related degrees at the collegiate level. It provides programming, mentoring and other educational resources to support women and people from underrepresented communities succeed in STEM.
Moore is paying it forward, inspiring and empowering the next generation with access to opportunities in STEM.
