Victoria Yau – Outstanding Mentor 2015 Nominee for the Engineering News-Record/Architecture Construction Engineering Mentor Program

What does it mean to be recognized as an outstanding mentor? For Victoria Yau, Job Captain at CSDA, it has been a humbling experience.

“I’m grateful,” she said. “It was unexpected, but it’s nice to be acknowledged by my peers at such a high level.”

Earlier this year Victoria was nominated for the ENR/ACE Outstanding Mentor 2015 national competition, due to her exceptional contributions to the ACE organization. The ACE program helps to mentor high school students and inspires them to pursue careers in design and construction. Although she ultimately didn’t place as a finalist, the nomination alone is a great honor.

She joined ACE Los Angeles in 2012 and immediately took on active leadership roles serving as a Mentor, Co-Team Leader and, eventually, a Team Leader. Among her many accomplishments, Victoria has mentored 75 students since she became involved with ACE three years ago.

“I wanted to get involved in a volunteer role to give these students the exposure I didn’t get when I was in high school,” she said.

One particular student who has stood out over the years is Jocelyne Perdomo. Jocelyne was attending Lennox Math, Science and Technology Academy in Lennox, CA when she became one of Victoria’s ACE mentees. In 2013, Jocelyne was only 15-years-old when she was offered a part-time, paid internship at CSDA’s Los Angeles office. She is now a senior in high school and has plans to attend UC San Diego this fall to pursue a career in the A/E/C industry.

Victoria is currently on the Education Committee for ACE San Francisco, spearheading the Student Liaison Sub-Committee. Her sub-committee is working to shape policies and best practices for how the local ACE affiliate will operate in the coming years.

“What drives me to continue to mentor is how much these kids inspire me to be hopeful for the future of the A/E/C industry,” she said. “I hope I can inspire other young professionals and show them that it doesn’t take a lot of experience to make a big difference – a little goes a long way.”

Read more about the ACE program.