AS+GG Wins 2012 Green Visionary Award at Chicago ACE Mentor Program Luncheon

February 2012

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture received the 2012 Green Visionary Award for commitment to sustainability at the seventh annual Chicago ACE (Architecture, Construction and Engineering) Mentor Program luncheon today at the Chicago Hilton.

“With this award, the Chicago ACE Mentor Program recognizes the extraordinary leadership of Smith + Gill in sustainable design and practices, locally, regionally, and globally,” the event program stated. “This award also recognizes Smith + Gill’s commitment to the Chicago ACE Mentor Program as demonstrated through its ongoing support of our work, its provision of mentors and internship positions, and the leadership on the ACE board of Kathy Fanning, Chief Financial Officer of the firm. Kathy’s clear thinking, strategic ideas, and financial acumen have helped the Chicago ACE Mentor Program become one of the leading youth mentorship programs in the nation.”

Accepting the award on the firm’s behalf were co-founder Adrian Smith, FAIA, RIBA, and Dr. Christopher Drew, AS+GG’s Director of Sustainability.

The luncheon raised more than $185,000 for the Chicago ACE Mentor Program, the construction industry’s fastest-growing program of its kind. A unique partnership among industry professionals, ACE works to increase the awareness of high school students to career opportunities through structured mentoring relationships and the awarding of college scholarships and paid internships.

Since its founding, ACE has touched the lives of more than 1,500 high school juniors and seniors from 36 high schools and awarded 298 scholarships worth $706,000, plus 65 internships. The program was one of eight recipients of the 2010 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, the nation’s highest award for mentoring.