JDA's Partners Bios

Darryl Daniels, AIA

Darryl is JDA’s founder and company leader. As our most valuable asset overseeing the firm's strategic growth and direction, he uses the same dedication, talent, and expertise from his 25 years in planning, programming, design, and construction management to help our clients effectively leverage their resources to realize their vision. At a project’s inception, Darryl quickly filters out the clutter to get at the critical issues, and throughout the life of a project or program, he has the unique ability to foster strong working relationships with our client-partners and all key stakeholders. Darryl is nationally recognized as an expert in strategic planning and thought leadership for projects as diverse as airport master plans, historical preservation programs, and strategic plans for urban redevelopment. His passion for helping organizations and communities develop economic strategies to foster revitalization intersects with his architectural and planning background to provide projects the imagination and practical strategy to make them a reality. An architect, Darryl is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, complemented by study abroad programs in Italy and China. He completed his graduate studies for his Masters in urban and regional planning at the University of New Orleans.

“ I would put Darryl toward the top of any list of consultants working to improve airport planning and operations.”
Ricky Smith, Director of the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport

Brad Jacobsen

When you meet Brad, you know the best player is in the game. He executes the strategy and delivers the final product in a way that keeps staff engaged and our clients more than satisfied with our work. We know this because they keep coming back! Brad oversees the technical production of many of our services to airports, airlines, rental car agencies, other aviation clients. He is known through the industry as more than just a critical thinker—as an implementation expert for facilities ranging from new runways and terminals to ARFF stations, new roads, and parking structures. He uses his experience in airline and airport operations and implementation planning to provide clients with creative solutions to individual and aggregate program elements. He is astonishingly effective at finding ways to leverage delivery methods—communicating the nuts and bolts as well as the nuances of projects—in ways that make sense to the people who have to implement them. Brad graduated from Michigan State University’s College of Engineering with a degree in Civil Engineering and is a member of the American Association of Airport Executives.

Message from the CEO