Wildly Successful Outreach Program Soothes Growing Pains
ACE was formed in 1994 to introduce inner-city youth to careers in architecture, construction and engineering (ACE). In 2001, ENRs Award of Excellence winner for championing ACE, Charles H. Thornton Jr., predicted there would be 15 or 20 sites by 2005 (ENR 4/23/2001 p. 30). But since 2000, ACE, born in New York City, has been on growth hormones, shooting up from nine active sites to 51, with another 10 under development. This year, there are 2,710 students enrolled in the after-school program nationwide, up from 810 in 2000. And there are 725 individual mentors, up from 260 in 2000.
With rapid-fire growth comes growing pains and ACE is in the throes of trying to manage its run-away success. "Were not initiating new chapters unless its convenient," says Thornton, ACE chairman and co-chairman of the New York City structural firm Thornton-Tomasetti Group until Jan. 1, when he becomes a T-T consultant. "Were focusing on getting or-ganizedon developing management systems, fiduciary controls and affiliate agreements," he adds. The "we" is the ACE National Board, formed in 2002.