Video: Briana Santa Ana, Alumni Engagement Medal award recipient
The College of Engineering & Applied Science honors outstanding alumni every year at the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Awards Banquet, which took place this year on April 26.
At the 2024 banquet, Briana Santa Ana (CivEngr'20) was awarded the Alumni Engagement Medal award for organizing the Construction Diversity Summit, held in April 2022 and attracting nearly 200 attendees.
"Being engaged and paying it forward makes you feel grateful," said Santa Ana, a graduate engineer with Development Review for the City of Mesquite. "Seeing people succeed and the happiness that comes with it is such a magical feeling. It makes you feel empowered."
In an effort to bring attention and awareness to issues around discrimination and diversity in the construction industry, Santa Ana helped organize the Construction Diversity Summit. The summit enabled participants to learn new communication strategies and skills, recognize the importance of DEI work on the jobsite and better understand the challenges underrepresented populations face in the construction industry.