In recognition of Women in Construction Week, we profile the fearless female leaders working at Joeris. From project managers, estimators, accountants, to field staff, these women are stand-outs in their field.
Our employee spotlights profile women at all levels of leadership at Joeris modeling our values of safety, integrity, leadership and excellence. Meg Schnieder, Lori Ellerson, Mariana Flores, and Alex Trevino are the emerging leaders in the industry, setting examples for young women through service.
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Meg Schnieder, Assistant Project Manager
Work History
Meg Schneider graduated from Texas A&M University’s construction science program in 2017 and immediately started working at Joeris General Contractors. When she started, she was on a 3-year, $50 million bond project with East Central ISD in San Antonio. Once Meg completed the ECISD project, she transferred to the Joeris Austin office and helped finish out Menchaca Elementary School, a 16-month, $28 million design-build project with Austin ISD and LPA, Inc. She is currently working on Casis Elementary School, a 3-year, $34 million project with Austin ISD utilizing the CMAR delivery method. Casis Elementary is a two-phase project on an active campus. Meg must track additional materials and construction waste to meet Austin Energy Green Building standards on this project.
Why Meg’s a Rising Star at Joeris
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Joeris worked on new protocols for maintaining a safe work environment for our trade partners. As a part of this effort, we had each person fill out a paper health-questionnaire daily. Meg ran with an idea from one of our superintendents, with our IT team’s help, to digitize this into a form that trade partners and site visitors could fill out by scanning a QR code. This form automatically creates a spreadsheet with all the information and notifies our project team immediately of any positive answers.
Once she made this form for her specific project, she wrote the standard operating procedure that was issued company-wide for all Joeris projects. Thanks to her formalization of the process, the QR code sign has been ordered by over 50 Joeris projects, creating an easy way for project teams to track workforce health questionnaire responses during the pandemic.
During her first year as a full-time project engineer with Joeris General Contractors, she was a part of the ACE Mentor Program. ACE is a mentorship program to help high school students learn more about potential careers in architecture, engineering, and construction. She was a part of a team representing construction and other architects and engineers from San Antonio. She spent a semester doing weekly meetings with the assigned campus, guiding students through a design/build project and teaching them about industry concepts, leading to a final student presentation at the end of the semester.
She enthusiastically supports the Joeris HR department’s recruiting efforts at career fairs and interviews. She is also a part of a team of female construction professionals who return to her alma mater, Texas A&M, for student organization presentations and assisting with interviews and resume workshops.
Lori Ellerson, Project Manager
Work History
Lori graduated from Texas A&M University in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Construction Science. Lori worked as an intern with Joeris General Contractors during her summer breaks in college, then was hired as a Project Engineer upon graduation. Lori has since been promoted to Project Manager. Since joining Joeris General Contractors, Lori has worked predominantly in the public sector, completing a 3-year $50 million bond with East Central ISD, and is currently in the process of turning over a $30 million office building to San Antonio ISD as well as a $14 million parking garage to Bexar County.
Why Lori’s a Rising Star at Joeris
Lori’s passion for construction lies in her ability to transform the people and communities where she builds. She is driven to develop lasting relationships with her team members and clients and finds a sense of pride in working together to resolve challenges.
Lori has dedicated three years to the Associated Builders and Contractors Association by sitting on the Future Leader’s Committee as a Professional Development chair and the Cook-Off chair. In addition to chairing, Lori actively participates with the UTSA Student ABC chapter by conducting mock interviews, resume building workshops, and community outreach activities, such as building ramps for homes in need. In addition, Lori is an active participant in the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo Ag Mechanics Committee, which focuses on young 4-H and FFA member expertise to design and construct agricultural mechanics projects.
Lori is clearly passionate about construction, specifically when it comes to educating the generations behind her and nurturing their talents. She consistently works to develop her leadership skills so that she can influence her successors in a positive and creative direction. Lori is a born leader, not one to stand still and idle on a jobsite, she will be the first to take action and develop a plan of action for the day.
Mariana Flores, Estimator
Work History
Mariana started at Joeris in 2016 as an intern while completing her degree in construction science at Texas A&M University and is now an Estimator. Before transitioning to the estimating department, Mariana spent several months on the job site as a project engineer where she gained valuable field experience and knowledge that translates to a broader understanding of project management challenges. She has over $ 307 millon worth of experience in estimating and has been the lead estimator on a majority of retail pursuits in Dallas.
Why Mariana’s a Rising Star at Joeris
Mariana started working for Joeris five years ago as an intern and is now an estimator in the Dallas office. This past year Mariana was awarded the “Oldtimers Excellence Award” – this is a company-wide award given to one person in each office who demonstrates superior performance, service, and results.
In the past few years, Mariana has taken on a position of mentorship for interns in her department. She took on this role because she had a mentor during her internship who made a huge impact on her and she wants to pass that on. As a mentor, she helps them to fully understand the job, checks in with them to see what their expectations of the job are, and makes sure those expectations are met. She is also involved in her community as she participates in job fairs, and loves to teach the kids about construction.
Alex Treviño, Project Manager
Work History
Alex is a project manager with nine years of construction experience. She has over $182.7 Million worth of construction experience mosty in K-12, municipal, and private and retail development. Recently she was the project manager on both a private development and ground-up HEB, which was a huge personal accomplishment.
Why Alex’s a Rising Star at Joeris
Alex is a leader every day on and off the job-site. In her free time, she is a Lifetime Member of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and is currently serving as the Vice-Chair for the Junior Agricultural Mechanics Marketplace & Auction Sub Committee. In this role, she will lead a contest for students from Texas 4-H and FFA where they construct projects, such as hunting blinds, picnic tables, gates, gazebos, etc., and then bring them in to be judged. Many of these students will continue on to join the construction industry. Alex is a great example to all of the students competing, but she is especially an example of a female construction leader to all the young women in this competition.