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Allison W. Pride is a lead architect with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Seattle District’s design branch. She will receive the 2022 Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA) in the Modern-Day Technology Leader category this February. The award recognizes commitment to the future of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) by developing cutting-edge technology or doing research for leading industries.
According to Seattle District Public Affairs, the award recognized Pride’s involvement with several organizations, that support youth and community engagement in STEM or healthcare. They include the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Seattle, Women in Design, Seattle Architectural Foundation, National Organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS), and the AIA Diversity RoundTable.
Hands-on volunteering has empowered Pride to host family outreach programs to introduce younger kids and their parents to architecture and design; develop pipeline activities that build connections with colleges and local communities to ensure minority students get support, and hold minority female panel discussions on diversity and inclusion with local architecture and design firms and private practitioners.
Being nominated and receiving the award was doubly humbling to Pride.
“I do my best to work hard every day serving the groups, agencies, and communities we partner with…This award is a reminder to me that the little things I am doing every day DO matter. The challenges will be there but there is always an opportunity to take care in what I do, to be intentional, and to make a positive impact.”
A School of Architecture (College of Fine and Applied Arts) at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign graduate, Pride has worked on various projects like the Veterans Affairs Program, a multi-phase partnership program with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and its local medical centers. Pride said this project was especially rewarding to her because she got to bring diverse areas of technical expertise together to design and deliver the program.
She is currently the technical design lead for the Information Systems Facility project at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Tacoma, Washington, a project that aims to consolidate important operations under the Network Enterprise Center (NEC). The project is in the construction phase, the phase Pride admits she enjoys the most because people can witness the creation of a structure from the ground up.
Beyond the architectural community, she is the district's African American special emphasis lead, offering additional support for minorities, strengthening professional and student engagement, and advocating more opportunities for a diverse workforce in the district.