3.8 minute read
June 10, 2026
Pride Month has always been a meaningful time to reflect on visibility, belonging, and community. This year, those reflections felt especially personal.
I was honored to receive the BuildIT Community Impact Award at BuildIT Founders Day in San Francisco, and I also had the opportunity to participate in Fresno Pride on behalf of Harris & Associates. Both moments were meaningful in different ways. Together, they reminded me that community impact is not only about what we build. It is also about who is represented, who is heard, and who has the opportunity to thrive.
That matters deeply in the built environment. The infrastructure we plan, design, manage, and deliver shapes how people move through their communities, access essential services, gather with others, and experience daily life. Roads, bridges, public facilities, schools, utilities, parks, civic spaces, and transportation systems are not abstract projects. They are part of the daily rhythm of people’s lives.
Sometimes, that impact is about restoring access when a community is disrupted. Harris saw that through our work with the City of Indio on the Avenue 44 Bridge, where storm damage from Hurricane Hilary created an urgent need to reconnect people safely and reliably.
Other times, it is about improving the everyday experience of moving through a neighborhood. In Watsonville, our support for the City’s pavement program included safer striping, green bike lanes, and high-visibility crosswalks — the kinds of improvements that can meaningfully affect how people travel, commute, and feel in public space.
It can also mean creating places where people gather, connect, and belong. The award-winning Dennis & Janice Caprara Community Center in Gonzales is one example: a civic space that supports recreation, programs, and community connection.
And in moments of urgency, infrastructure work can help protect essential services. On the Villa La Jolla Storm Drain Emergency Project in San Diego, rapid coordination and infrastructure expertise helped respond to an immediate community need.
Behind each of these projects are decisions that affect real people, neighborhoods, public agencies, and future generations.
That is why representation matters. Infrastructure is technical, but its impact is deeply human.
Inclusive teams help us make better decisions because they bring more perspectives to the table. They help us ask better questions: Who will use this space? Who may face barriers to access? Whose daily experience may be affected during construction? What community needs may not be obvious at first glance? How can we deliver the technical solution while also respecting the people it is meant to serve?
At Harris, I have the opportunity to work alongside an engineering team that understands both the technical responsibility and the human impact of this work. Our projects require problem-solving, precision, and accountability. They also require listening, collaboration, humility, and care. The strongest infrastructure solutions come from teams that respect different perspectives and remain focused on the communities at the center of the work.
I see that culture every day at Harris — in the way our teams support one another, mentor emerging professionals, work across disciplines, and show up for clients and communities. It is a culture rooted in service and strengthened by people who bring different experiences, ideas, and expertise to the table.
That is what made receiving the BuildIT Community Impact Award during Pride Month especially meaningful. BuildIT’s work to advance LGBTQ+ and allied businesses, professionals, and leaders in the built environment reflects a truth I have seen throughout my career and in my work at Harris: representation is not separate from the work of building stronger communities. It is part of how we get there.
The evening’s theme, Thrive, captured that idea in a powerful way. It also reflects what I value about Harris. Thriving is not something people or communities do alone. We thrive when we are supported, included, challenged, and trusted to contribute fully. We thrive when teams create space for others to lead. And we thrive when our industry continues opening doors and building pathways for more people to succeed.
This award may have my name on it, but it reflects many people, partnerships, and shared efforts along the way. I am grateful to BuildIT for the recognition, to the Harris team I get to work with every day, to the mentors and colleagues who have shaped my career, and to the communities that give purpose to the work we do.
There is still more work to do — to expand opportunity, strengthen belonging, and build communities where more people can see a future for themselves.
That work is what makes this profession meaningful. And it is what inspires me to keep building equitable, resilient, and sustainable communities.
