News
Mar 4, 2024
-
Save to favoritesShare with your friends
-
BuildOUT California recently awarded two exceptional Jacobs’ teammates, Vigor Lam and Daniel Souza, the prestigious 2024 Built Community Impact Award in recognition of their efforts as advocates for the LGBTQ+ community.
Vigor and Daniel have made significant advancements in developing engagement programs for LGBT/Allied students in colleges and universities throughout California and the U.S., as well as expanding support and networks on a global scale. Their remarkable achievements show the positive change they have brought to the world.
Vigor is based in San Francisco and is a senior project engineer providing project management/construction management (PM/CM) consulting services to University of California, San Francisco in the Bay Area. Within Jacobs, he serves as the West TogetherBeyond Council Prism Representative and on the Americas Leadership team. He is also a current PhD student in the higher education leadership program at Colorado State University, where he intends to study equitable and universal campus spatial belonging of students.
Daniel is based in San Francisco, where he is a project manager and group lead for the Northern California environmental planning group. Within Jacobs, he serves as part of Jacobs’ internal leadership teams for company initiatives, including internal resource programs for mentorship and innovation. Previously, he served on the West TogetherBeyond Council as the Prism Representative and has served on Prism’s global leadership team.
BuildOUT California has grown its programs since its founding in 2020. As part of BuildOUT, Daniel and Vigor co-chair student outreach initiatives, which includes LGBTQ+ career fairs and career panels. In February 2024, they hosted a panel of industry professionals at Stanford who spoke with students about their professional experiences. This initiative partners with colleges and universities throughout California to provide a strong network of LGBTQ+ professionals in the architecture, engineering and construction industry.
Prism is Jacobs’ employee network for lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, intersex and ace people and their allies. We foster an environment where LGBTQ+ people feel included, safe, proud and empowered to bring their whole self to work. Prism is also Jacobs’ LGBTQ+ advisory group, which is committed to implementing inclusion initiatives across Jacobs and ensuring that Jacobs is an employer of choice as a result ongoing diversity and inclusion work.
Vigor and Daniel’s unwavering dedication and advocacy has not only broken barriers, but also paves the way for greater acceptance and inclusivity. To learn more about how Jacobs has joined over 100 industry leaders in affirming our support for LGBTQ+ people and their right to enjoy the same freedoms, opportunities and unconditional love as everyone else, read about our HRC Count us in Pledge.
About inclusion & diversity at Jacobs
We put people at the heart of our business. We embrace different perspectives, collaborating to make a positive impact. Through an unparalleled focus on inclusion with a diverse team of visionaries, thinkers and doers, we build trust – in each other and across our company.
At Jacobs, we understand that “inclusion” is a verb, not a noun. It means being transparent and taking action on our statements, commitments and initiatives that drives meaningful, measurable change both in our company and in the communities that we serve.
It means creating a workplace where our differences are accepted, celebrated and harnessed to bring the innovative, extraordinary solutions clients demand from us. It means creating a culture of belonging where everyone can thrive — a culture that we call TogetherBeyond℠.