The best and the brightest of the construction industry’s rising stars will be recognized as ENR 2024 National Top 20 Under 40 award winners next year, March 18-20, during a ceremony at the ENR Emerging Leaders Forum in Chicago. 

Selected from more than 500 entries received last summer during the regional Top Young Professionals competition, ENR’s 2024 National Top 20 Under 40 group represents AEC sectors across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Panels of independent industry judges selected up to 20 winners to represent each of 10 ENR regions. A national team of judges then reviewed the highest scoring candidates from each regional contest to determine ENR 2024 National Top 20 Under 40 award winners. 

A special thanks to this year's national team of judges: 

  • Mani Golparvar-Fard, CSO/co-founder at Reconstruct and professor and faculty entrepreneurial fellow in the Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Dept. of Computer Science at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 
  • Jake Schmidt, project development manager, FCI Constructors Inc. 
  • Megan Schulze, senior associate, Dewberry and one of ENR’s 2020 National Top 20 Under 40.

Feature articles on regional Top 20 Under 40 winners will be published early next year in ENR's respective regional magazines. Additionally, a cover story and photo spread featuring this year's National Top 20 Under 40 awardees (listed below) will be published in ENR's national edition, including professional insights and perspectives from the award winners on the industry's most pressing challenges.

National winners will receive their awards at the ENR Emerging Leaders Forum, formerly the Top Young Professionals Conference, in Chicago. For more information about the event's program or to purchase tickets, visit www.enr.com/emerging-leaders-forum.

If you know an outstanding candidate to be considered for emerging leader recognition next year, don’t miss your chance to submit an entry to ENR’s regional competition when it goes live next summer. 

For more information about the contest, visit www.enr.com/top-young-professionals. 

ENR's 2024 National Top 20 Under 40 award winners are listed below in alphabetical order by last name. Congratulations! 

Andre Barbour, Diversity and Inclusion Director, NEI General Contracting, Randolph, Mass. Originally submitted to ENR New England

Tyler Bonwell, President, MMC Contractors, Las Vegas, Nev. Originally submitted to ENR Southwest

Kasie Bowden, General Superintendent, Hensel Phelps, Irvine, Calif. Originally submitted to ENR California

Sadia Janjua, Chief of Digital Transformation, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, New York City. Originally submitted to ENR New York

KiSeok Jeon, Vice President and Digital Advisory Lead, STV, New York City. Originally submitted to ENR New York

Victoria Jones, Project Delivery Director, Transurban, McLean, Va. Originally submitted to ENR MidAtlantic 

Justin Lamb, Project Director and General Manager, Research Triangle Park, Fluor, Morrisville, N.C. Originally submitted to ENR Southeast

Ioanna Magiati, Partner, architecture firm AO, Orange, Calif. Originally submitted to ENR California

Rory J. Mele, Director of EHS, BHI, Vernal, Utah. Originally submitted to ENR Mountain States

Sara Sadek, Director of Corporate QA/QC, PJ Dick, Pittsburgh, Pa. Originally submitted to ENR MidAtlantic 

KK Clark, Project Executive, Clark Construction, San Diego, Calif. Originally submitted to ENR California

Brian Derr, Associate Vice President and Section Head of Special Projects, Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson Inc., Trenton, N.J. Originally submitted to ENR New York

John Hoodjer, Vice President and Group Manager, JE Dunn Construction, Omaha, Neb. Originally submitted to ENR Midwest

Rod Jones, Manager, Holder Construction Co. LLC, Herndon, Va. Originally submitted to ENR MidAtlantic

Lili Liang, Deputy Director, Maryland DOT State Highway Administration, Hanover, Md. Originally submitted to ENR MidAtlantic

Aislinn Nagy, Senior Project Manager. Balfour Beatty Construction, Charlotte, N.C., Originally Submitted to ENR Southeast

Ben Nichols, President and CEO, Harkins Builders, Columbia, Md., Originally submitted to ENR MidAtlantic

Lauren Taylor, Vice President and Texas District Planning and Advisory Services Lead, WSP USA, Austin, Texas. Originally submitted to ENR Texas & Louisiana

Irene Turletes, Water Resources Market Sector Lead, HDR Engineering Inc., Anchorage, Alaska. Originally submitted to ENR Northwest

Kyle Weller, Vice President and General Manager, Turner Construction Co., San Antonio, Texas. Originally submitted to ENR Texas & Louisiana