McKissack & McKissack Hires Chief People Officer to Lead Talent Acquisition, Build a Diverse Nationa

McKissack & McKissack, one of the nation's leading Black- and women-owned architecture, engineering and program and construction management firms, has announced that Alana Elston has joined the company's senior leadership team as chief people officer. She will oversee all aspects of McKissack's human resources, including an effort to attract, retain and develop an innovative, talented and diverse team as the company expands nationally.

Elston is intrigued by the changing nature of HR and how it can impact a company's culture.

Tweet thisLast year, McKissack received Inc. magazine's Best in Business Award for its work on iconic projects and leadership in workforce diversity. Given the company's respected achievements, Elston is a strategic choice to lead human resources at McKissack as it enters its fourth decade of growth and assumes more roles as a prime. She has extensive experience in talent acquisition, team management, employee development and building strong and inclusive cultures.

"Alana's career has always been about being energetic and focused on recruiting and developing highly skilled and diverse team players. Instead of sitting back and waiting for talent to come to her, she uses creative acquisition strategies to find candidates that are not only capable and accomplished but are also the right fit for an organization, regardless of race or gender," President and CEO Deryl McKissack said. "She has the ability to bring in excellent technical expertise to meet our clients' needs and a unique mindset really works for our culture, which focuses our team members on being humble, hungry and smart. She epitomizes that philosophy herself and will help strengthen it in our employee development programs," McKissack added. Building a High-Performing, Cohesive and Diverse Team Takes Intentional Outreach With its work for public and private clients in the civic, culture, energy, education, entertainment, healthcare, hospitality, housing, infrastructure, mixed-use and office sectors, McKissack has long made history as a MWBE that can deliver projects on time, on budget with excellence. "We've developed and managed major construction programs worth billions of dollars all over the country because we attract the type of projects that value a diverse workforce. But that calls for highly skilled, experienced employees," McKissack said.

Earlier this year, McKissack made history again when it became the first Black woman-owned business to be selected as the top firm for capital projects in Dallas-Fort Worth. The achievement made McKissack more aware of the need to better build and diversify the company's regional offices. "My approach to building solid teams is not to wait for individuals to come to me. I reach out to my network. I cold source. I scour the web. I live and breathe LinkedIn. You can't sit back and wait when you're looking for talented leaders to enlist for key leadership roles," Elston said. "That means everyone is fair game—even people that may be sitting across the proverbial table from us in meetings," she added. "The talent we want are already high performers at their jobs, and I leave no stone unturned when I'm trying to find the right person." "McKissack is practicing what it preaches," Elston said. "By hiring me and thinking creatively and intentionally about recruiting efforts, McKissack is building an accomplished and inclusive team at the leadership level and beyond. It's ensuring that every day we are living and breathing what we are saying about increasing opportunity and diversity. We are walking the walk."