Meet Our Member

The IESNYC spotlights a member each month whose volunteerism, perspective or personal story helps advance our goals, piques our curiosity, and makes the IESNYC become a more vibrant and diverse lighting community. We value their expertise and thank them for volunteering their time and energy for the betterment of the section and NYC Lighting Community. #the_iesnycmom

September 2025

Monica Bradley
Senior Associate
Robert Derector Associates

Q: How did you first get started in the lighting industry?
Well, my dad was an electrical engineer. I was always good at math and science and had some of the coolest science fair projects (Thanks, Dad!). I knew I wanted to make good money and we had traveled a lot for his job when I was young. He was in the aerospace industry in Seattle, so the annual Paris air show was a special treat. These experiences growing up made me want to explore electrical engineering as my college major.

The BS in Electrical Engineering program at Villanova University was tough, but I enjoyed it. I minored in business as well, which has come in very handy as my career progresses.

My first job out of school was electrical engineer at Robert Derector Associates, an MEP design firm. As a design engineer, I worked under my mentor, Eleanor Co. We were the only two women EEs during that time. Eleanor taught me to appreciate and support the vision of other consultants working on a project. I have carried this as I have grown from design engineer to project manager during my 11 years here at RDA.

She also taught me lighting controls, and I still get into the weeds with lighting controls and lighting designers. We do not design lighting at RDA, so I teach my mentees that we’re there to build a solid platform for others’ designs (and to meet code). We do design lighting control systems, working with the different manufacturers and reps. We ask questions and understand the products to ensure that the client and design team are making well-informed choices.

These days, I am working more on the business side: project management and client management and internal project cost management. Collaborating to build beautiful and functional spaces is still a joy. But managing different teams of design engineers and different projects is my favorite part.

Q: How did you first get involved in the IESNYC?
I worked as lead electrical engineer and project manager for the Google Martha project at 550 Washington Street, where I met colleagues at Fisher Marantz Stone that introduced me to the IESNYC (shout out to Zachary Pearson and Paula Martinez-Nobles). I was very fortunate to collaborate with several individuals and consistent teams over the course of 4-5 years on that project. Several of us shared the same desire for community, which definitely helped make the job a huge success. We grew together during the project.

Zachary and I worked closely on the challenging amenities floors, including a theater and prefunction space. He invited me to my first IESNYC events. Moonlighting is a terrific event: it gets deeper into a personal level, both for the creators and the observers. 

Q: How do you see your role as a member of the IESNYC?
I feel like Zachary sees how EEs can support the designer’s aesthetics while we’re problem-solving with the infrastructure. He called and asked me to bring some of my EE perspective to the IESNYC Board of Managers. I am excited to expand the collaborative community we’ve established.

We each have our own experiences and knowledge to share. There must be 100 different programs and committees, but I’m looking forward most to working on diversity programming and the Illuminating Equity Task Force. We’ll collaborate with Equity in Lighting on education and programming. Again, I was one of few women in my field when I started, and we still have a long way to go on the engineering side. 

Q: In your opinion, what are the best assets of the IESNYC?
My initial exposure to the IESNYC was primarily networking and catching up with colleagues that I haven’t worked with in a long while. My experience with the Board of Managers (so far) shows a variety of strong opinions, as well as a culture of strong, active listening and genuine curiosity. I’ve seen how this empowered board brings individual concerns into the context of other programs and the broader organization. I feel like these systems are active and effective, and I am excited to contribute.