Honoring Our Legacy with the Sagacity Spotlight Awards

Sagacity – referring to wisdom, legacy, and history and highlighting the foresight that comes with and is made possible through these attributes – is the cornerstone of how we do what we do at TKDA. The culture of innovation, excellence, and collaboration that our founder, Max Toltz, and the early partners of our company set in motion 115 years ago remains at the core of our business today. To honor this legacy, we introduced a new employee recognition program this year, the Sagacity Spotlight Awards, to recognize outstanding employee contributions and achievements centered around our shared values: trust, integrity, excellence, and inclusion. 

Building Trust

Lindsey Lawrence is the recipient of the Building TRUST award. Lindsey is a mentor to all and dedicates time to connecting with colleagues and tirelessly advocates for them. Always prioritizing others’ needs, she exemplifies what it means to be a great mentor. Her integrity and trustworthiness extend to our clients, making her a respected expert in her field who ensures our solutions meet all their needs.

Cultivating Inclusion

Kathryn Poore-Larson has shown a continuous commitment to developing and elevating her coworkers, with an emphasis on our emerging professionals. Kathryn was there at the beginning of TKDA’s mentorship program and has since been a key mentor, earning her the Cultivating INCLUSION award. She has mentored emerging professionals across TKDA in architecture, aviation, facilities, surface transportation, and rail across several locations, including Saint Paul, Chicago, and Duluth.

Demonstrating Integrity

Bill Beyer, our Demonstrating INTEGRITY award recipient, exemplifies integrity in leadership. He comes to work with a positive attitude, is always willing to take time to mentor staff or lend a helping hand, and always prioritizes the safety of his coworkers. For example, Bill’s honest and professional work with a Mining Safety and Health Administration inspector while on a client’s site assured the inspector that he and TKDA would fulfill an additional information request before the deadline. He strongly demonstrated integrity by taking ownership of TKDA’s work and doing what is needed for a successful outcome.

Achieving Excellence

Brooklyn Mishler and Lizzie Sherman earned this year’s Achieving EXCELLENCE award by demonstrating exceptional leadership to establish and continuously improve a program that has become a major contributor to TKDA’s present and future. This program has been recognized and praised and wouldn’t be what it is today without the energy and passion that they have invested. Overall, their contributions greatly appreciated and have made a significant impact in our ability to attract high-potential talent that will progress to become our firm’s leaders in the years to come.

Max Toltz Sagacity Award

At TKDA, we show sagacity through collaborating with clients, engaging with communities and professional organizations, and sharing ideas and experiences internally to mentor and elevate each other. The Max Toltz Sagacity Award is awarded to those who best embody the character of sagacity. Chad Gunderson demonstrates all of these elements that make up how we show sagacity: experience, expertise, being proactive, exercising good judgment, being diligent and conscientious, living TKDA’s values, leading individual coworkers, and investing one’s capabilities to elevate those around them. Truly embodying what it means to be sagacious, Chad shows his technical competence and dedication to serving clients every day, he also treats everyone with dignity and respect.