Raised in a Black, lower-middle income American family, Drew was taught from a young age about the importance of giving to others and serving society. This mentality has guided him throughout his life, from Boy Scouts and the church youth group, to a decorated career with the U.S. Air Force, through to program management. “It’s that sense of being part of something bigger than myself, and of making a difference,” he says.
At the University of Florida, where he completed his first degree in architecture, Drew signed up to the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program, embarking on what would become a 23-year career that saw him rise to Colonel, the highest field grade officer rank, picking up Master of Science degrees in Management and National Security from Troy State University and the National War College along the way. In 2007, stationed in Germany, he was responsible for all Air Force mission support functions for combat and contingency operations in Europe and Africa, encompassing civil engineering, contracting, security forces and emergency services. Not only that, but he was a single Dad responsible for six of his then seven children. He retired from the Air Force focused on “giving my kids the attention they needed and deserved.”
Building high performing teams to take on unique challenges
Looking for a new direction, he reached out to two mentors, also ex-Air Force senior officers, who convinced him to try program management. “What I enjoyed about being a mission commander was being in charge of really high performing teams and getting them to do things that had never been done before. Program management is similar. In addition, what attracted me was the opportunity to make a big impact on society.”
He joined engineering company CH2M Hill as a program manager for modernization of a water and wastewater system in Seminole County, Florida, where he settled with his Dutch wife Mirjam, with whom he has twins. As a resident, he saw the impact his work was having on the community, in which he also served by leading a homelessness taskforce and joining a local school foundation board. Once again, he was promoted quickly, eventually running all the large programs in the water group - more than 20 around the world.
Career highlights include experiencing the vastness of the Panama Canal expansion – an engineering marvel that more than doubled capacity; riding on a football-pitch-long tunnel boring machine under the Thames river in London – “the most exciting two meter ride in my life: it took two hours”; and standing 100 meters below ground in a pumping shaft in Abu Dhabi – “we were 300 people down there and I wasn’t close to anyone: that’s how big the world’s largest pumping station is.” When CH2M Hill was bought by Jacobs, Drew was persuaded to stay, running over 50 multi-billion-dollar programs, before moving to construction consulting firm Hill International as President of the Americas Region.
The AECOM appeal
When the opportunity with AECOM arose, Drew had only recently joined Hill International – and he had no intention of leaving. But CEO Troy Rudd had determined that Drew was the perfect fit to lead the new program management global business line he was creating. “What Troy said was that AECOM has both the resources and commitment to really make a significant impact on the world’s infrastructure, and by extension, society. That appealed to the part of me that wants to serve society in a way that really makes a difference.”
The range, scale and complexity of infrastructure challenges around the world is increasing, and Drew saw an opportunity to bring the depth and scale of AECOM’s expertise to bring greater value to society. Six-months in, his vision is to prioritize key initiatives like the Los Angeles Olympics, our work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and our partnerships with the U.S. Government in disaster recovery and other areas, as well as deepening client relationships on major programs we already have such as the new city state of NEOM, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York, and more.
Troy and President Lara Poloni’s vision for promoting equity, diversity and inclusion was another driver for Drew, who has engaged directly with employee resource groups in the U.S. and Europe, BeBold and the Ethnic Diversity Network. “It’s important to me to see diversity of leadership, as there is at AECOM in terms of nationality, gender, race, and age. The way I’m wired, I have to be a believer in the team I’m part of and what we are about.”