Careers are winding journeys that are unique to each individual. But every journey also brings wisdom that can inform and enlighten all ages and fields.
That’s why for Black History Month, WSP is sharing insights from four of the firm’s accomplished Black professionals.
Content writer Alex Perry held a roundtable discussion with four colleagues:
- Marie-Elsie Dowell, PE, senior vice president and principal director of transit and rail;
- Michelle Edwards, senior consultant with built ecology;
- Jason Johnson, PE, senior vice president and water team lead; and
- Tershara Matthews, senior vice president and offshore wind policy lead.
They answered questions and shared their personal insights for young professionals as they navigated their own career paths.
What first made you want to pursue this career that you’ve chosen?
Matthews: Actually, I feel like my career path found me. I wasn't looking for it at first because as a young child, my parents told me I was going to be a pediatrician. But that didn’t work out because I realized the sight of blood frightened me (laughs).
So instead, after I graduated with a biology and premed degree, I decided to pursue marine biology. And I just fell in love with marine biology.
What was it about marine biology that spoke to you?
Matthews: I was really fascinated with understanding marine biology lifecycles and understanding the potential impacts that can happen to those lifecycles. For example, the Gulf of Mexico, which has been my biggest area of focus, is very rich in biodiversity and ecological specimens. Just working through that ecosystem’s entire life cycle, and understanding all its aspects and what can disrupt them, was very interesting to me.
I started in a university research lab, and that start helped me understand how all those aspects worked, which helped me to appreciate how policy needs to be shaped to protect those considerations. At the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, where I worked before coming to WSP, I was part of programs for oil and gas, renewable energy and marine minerals. Understanding the science helped me understand how certain policies should look.
Now at WSP, I can help clients meet their needs and better explain to government mitigations that are in place; why they’re in place; what they’re trying to protect and what they need to do to address them. It’s like all the different parts of my career have come full circle.
Did you have a role model or mentor who helped shape your path?
Johnson: There were certainly peers that I learned from, but I would say my three greatest professional mentors were:
- Eliu Perez, who was the newly appointed head for my previous firm’s Latin America and Caribbean division. He encouraged me to relocate to Miami and helped me win for that firm three international projects, which are some of my greatest professional accomplishments.
- Victor Pujals, who instilled in me a discipline for project management, operations and delivery that continues to guide my performance and perspective on how to execute projects.
- Mike Schmidt, who believed in me and supported placing me on multiple high profile water resources projects, which were profiled at the Water Environment Federation’s Technical Exhibition and Conference.
How did you come to your role at WSP?
Dowell: I arrived here by being flexible and willing to dive into the unknown with the help of mentors! I started as a project traffic engineer in Miami. Then the Miami office grew rapidly by winning a few mega projects, which allowed my role to quickly grow into managing the entire traffic task of those mega projects, building a local traffic group.
These projects also brought company-wide colleagues to Miami and exposed me to a wide range of disciplines, which led to opportunities to work on projects outside of Miami. That’s when I began to create a strong network of colleagues, all of whom I am still friends with today. My roles included national traffic lead and SE District travel demand lead, to now transit program and corridor manager.
Can you describe your role at WSP with a project example?
Edwards: One my recent projects was helping a higher education institution develop its design and construction sustainability program. This project required outreach to stakeholders and working closely with the institution's project management and facilities teams.
I facilitated interviews to gain insights into their existing processes, identified what worked well and what didn’t, and gathered recommendations on enhancing their processes. Due to the project’s high demand, we conducted various stakeholder engagements and submitted multiple deliverables.
I was able to support the team in strategizing effective ways to achieve their sustainability goals in a timely manner, ensuring valuable impacts for the university.
What challenges do you face in today’s engineering environment?
Dowell: Find ways to increase minority enrollment in engineering. For us to address the greatest challenges, such as sustainability and equitable transportation, we need involvement and solutions from populations and communities that would benefit most.
Johnson: On the technical side and due to a changing climate, infrastructure resilience is driving a large percentage of our project portfolio, yet professionally, we’re being challenged by a reduced interest in engineering as a profession, and we’re trying to encourage people to remain and join the industry. Many mid-level engineers and technical professionals are taking their talents to other industries. That’s why I think our greatest challenge is how to adjust to an evolving workforce, while addressing accelerated environmental concerns that are impacting our clients in ways that were not as prominent 25-30 years ago as they are now.
What advice do you have for young professionals who are just getting started in their own careers?
Johnson: Embrace the experience of your older peers and mentors and learn to communicate with your internal and external contemporaries who are beyond just your generation. Your young professional peers may be your future clients, and your older peers can provide perspectives on past and present challenges and suggest available resources they have used successfully that allow for more efficient and robust solutions than what was previously available.
Dowell: First, follow the money by learning the “business” or how their company makes money. Second, be engaged internally, whether it’s in an employee resource group or in a local or regional initiative. Third, have an active and leadership role in a professional association. Fourth, never stop learning, whether through reading, blogs or mentorship.
And finally, have a hobby that takes your mind away from work and recharges your batteries on a regular basis.
Edwards: I would advise young professionals to always be open to new experiences and opportunities. Sometimes we leave college thinking we know exactly how we want our journey to be, but for many, their career journeys are not linear.
We should always embrace the opportunities we never thought of pursuing, as they can end up bringing joy and passion to your life.
Tershara Matthews: Pay attention to everything, and like Michelle said, don’t exclude yourself from anything. If someone brings you an opportunity, then take on the challenge, even if you don’t think it quite fits with your training. That keeps the door open to things you may not have even been aware of in the first place.
