HDR: Making Great Things Possible for Women
The women of HDR have their hands in a variety of high-profile transportation projects in Southern California, but many have made a point to spend time giving back to other women through WTS.
“There’s a lot of opportunity in WTS for leadership and collaboration. The WTS community succeeds at building and supporting members to excel in their careers,” said Huey Yann Ooi, P.E., a senior rail project manager based in Irvine. Ooi currently serves on the Orange County mentorship committee and has been involved in WTS for 15 years, including serving as president of the San Diego chapter.
She is one of 250 employees across the company who are members of WTS. HDR is committed to WTS beyond its sponsorship, said Angie Kung, the environmental sciences highway section manager in HDR’s Irvine office — employees routinely provide their time and expertise to the organization.
“I really believe in the mission, in giving women the opportunity to succeed in transportation, giving them training and tools that they can bring forward in their career and hopefully advance it,” Kung said. “HDR prides itself in terms of inclusion, and WTS helps us give women those opportunities.”
Shiva Wooton, P.E., a transportation project manager in Long Beach and mentoring committee member, had a mentor at HDR who helped shape her
career and open her eyes to the opportunities with the company.
“A lot of the mentees are young girls that I can really relate to,” she said. “I owe where I am today to my mentor. I really wanted to be someone like that for someone else.”
HDR’s initiatives include an Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Council as well as employee networks for specific groups including women. It has a robust DBE/SBE program with strong relationships with women- and minority-owned firms in the Los Angeles area and around the country.
“HDR has a really great culture for women that is inclusive and provides work-life balance,” said Kim Magee, P.E., a volunteer for WTS, HDR’s office lead for downtown San Diego and a rail transit deputy project manager. “I feel
very supported to excel in my career. I don’t feel limited because I’m a mom or a woman.”
HDR has a hand in many of the region’s most important transportation projects, elevating the Southern California transportation system in a variety of ways, including the Link Union Station project in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles World Airports Automated People Mover, the Shoemaker Bridge Replacement in Long Beach, Pier B On-Dock Rail Facility Program with Port of Long Beach, and Del Mar and Miramar Hill Tunneling studies in San Diego.
All those projects gave WTS members and other women a chance to work on exciting projects and achieve their career goals at HDR.
“What I love about working for HDR is that there is room for me to grow my career and to expand into what I want to do,” said Jenny Vick, scholarship committee co-chair for the San Diego Chapter and an environmental service project manager. “They value my opinion and take feedback on what kinds of projects I want to be working on.”