This year’s elegance of the Midwest’s Best Young Professionals says that the long-term design and structure in the region belongs to corporations willing to adapt and innovate. A consistent theme among the 20 strengths presented here is a commitment to best practices and results, whether at the corporate or national level. Some of those leaders, like Afolabi Sanusi, are creating and integrating new technologies that save a lot of time and money on tasks. Others, like Shawn Walker, are breaking barriers within task forces to achieve results.
The push to build diversity in the industry is also a common chorus among this year’s graduating class, which includes notable representation of women and minorities. Many of those leaders are exploring new territories within their respective corporations while helping others follow their path. Some, like Alzira Maldonado Protshishin and Mirela Keserovic, are living the American dream as immigrants struggling to make it to their new community.
ENR Midwest’s Top Young Professionals program, organized through all regional editions of ENR, recognizes young industry professionals, all under the age of 40, who achieve excellence in their professional lives by demonstrating leadership qualities, professional development, immediate experience, and community involvement. .
Qualified applicants must be based in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio or Wisconsin.
The 2024 class was selected by a panel of judges, consisting of former Top Young Professionals honorees. The jury included: Emily Hyland of HDR Inc.; Leslie Freeman of WT Group; Kyle Roberts of Burns & McDonnell; Lisa Hoekenga of Michael Baker International; and Abbas Kachwalla of AECOM. Judges did not review applications from colleagues working at the same firm or with whom they had any conflicts of interest.
Continue reading to learn more about the young leaders guiding the future of architecture, engineering, and structure in the Midwest region.
Prior to joining the construction industry four years ago, Williamson worked in higher education, primarily focusing on creating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Today, he manages all engagement and DEI operations for AECOM’s Hunt’s Central region, including the recent Joint Public Safety Training Campus project in Chicago. Prior to the start of construction, the JPSTC project was met with significant community resistance and opposition from City Council members. Under Williamson’s leadership, innovative and creative outreach strategies led to 15% of total workforce hired from local community, 61% of journeypersons were minority, 85% of laborers were minority and 21% of apprentices were women. He serves on the DEI Committee for Chicago’s Chapter of Professional Women in Construction. For the second consecutive year, Kendall was selected to be a diversity ambassador for the Chicago Build Expo. Williamson also serves as the volunteer lead for AECOM Hunt’s Chicago office, partnering with such organizations as Greater Chicago Food Depository, Good Kids Mad City, Rebuilding Together Metro Chicago and My Block, My Hood, My City.
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