Spotlight on ACE Mentor Sandra Guerra

We are excited to spotlight Sandra Guerra, an assistant superintendent on Clark Construction's Golden State Expansion project in Anaheim, California.

Sandra, who joined Clark in 2016, was inspired to join the construction industry while she was a mentee in the ACE Mentor Program (ACE). Founded in 1994, ACE is a free after-school program designed to inspire high school students to pursue careers in architecture, engineering, and construction.

Learn more about Sandra in the interview below. 

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Lennox, California. It is a super small area right next to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). It is so small that I just tell everyone that I grew up in Inglewood, California. 

How did you initially get involved with the ACE Mentor Program? What are some of your favorite memories as a mentee? 

I was fortunate enough to attend a high school that provided the ACE Mentor Program - Lennox Math, Science and Math Academy (LMSTA).

As a mentee, my favorite memory has to be the All Schools Day, an event where students from area schools gather and compete in an engineering competition. It was a really fun way to meet people in the industry and other students from neighboring schools. 

Tell us about your career at Clark

I joined Clark as an engineer on an amusement park project in University City, California. After the completion of that project, I spent a short time at Los Angeles Courthouse helping the team with project closeout.

Since then I have worked on two amusement park projects in Inglewood, California.

What is your greatest professional accomplishment?

It's a tie between my recent promotion to the assistant superintendent and helping one of my ACE students secure a summer associate position with Clark. 

I love providing opportunities for others to learn about this industry so it was great to have Esmeralda Martinez, an ACE alum, spend the summer with us.  

Even though we were on different projects, I was able to give Esmeralda a tour of my project and show her first-hand my daily tasks. Fingers crossed that Esmeralda joins the Clark team again next summer! 

What advice do you have for young engineers who are starting their career at Clark?

Every mistake comes with a lesson learned and more importantly, a solution. Don’t stress about it - instead, fix it, learn from it, and become a better engineer. 

What is your dream construction project that you would want to work on? 

I love the Los Angeles Lakers so if they ever decided it was time to move on from the Staple Center, I’d definitely want to be part of the team building them a new home.