MFA Recognizes New ICARE Awards Recipients

Twice a year, MFA celebrates employees demonstrating our company values through the actions they take on the job and in the community—be it going the extra mile to assist a colleague and deliver results for our clients, simply emptying the office dishwasher, or volunteering with a nonprofit organization. We call this celebration the ICARE Awards. Any MFA team member can nominate a coworker in six categories that mirror MFA’s core values: innovation, collaboration, agility, respect, excellence, and community service. We had nearly 500 nominations, with all staff participating! From those 500 well-deserved nominations, our ICARE winners are below:

Innovation

Erik Strandhagen, senior GIS analyst and FAA-certified remote pilot, is recognized for  innovation in all areas of his work, and especially for his leadership of MFA’s unmanned aerial systems (UAS) services program. Combining his American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing certification, his expert knowledge of surveying requirements and techniques, and his proficiency in both GIS and Civil3D, Erik delivers superior UAS data and analysis to our engineers, scientists, and, ultimately, our clients to move projects forward.

Collaboration

The professionals who make up MFA’s amazing administrative team put the “C” in “ICARE” with their collaboration. Allyson Allo in Idaho, Anne Fleming and Linda Jensen in Portland, Emily Hendrickson in Seattle, Gina Baragona in Lake Oswego, Mary Matyas in Bellingham, and Jamie Fisher and Victoria O’Daniel in Vancouver support the MFA staff with constant collaboration and communication among team members and beyond to ensure that our offices run smoothly and that each of our deliverables meets our rigorous deadlines and standards for excellence.

Agility

Our winner, Staff Geologist Allen Clements, received six nominations in this category! Allen goes above and beyond on stormwater sampling, juggles multiple competing priorities, remains undaunted by new experiences while on the job, and is always willing to jump in and help with internal projects, no matter how busy he is.

Respect

Alistaire Clary, chief operations officer/principal engineer, is recognized for her ability to make all feel valued and recognized for their efforts. Alistaire’s nominations also highlighted her heartfelt leadership, respectful listening, and unending encouragement. As one colleague described Alistaire: “People are comfortable sharing, because she seeks first to understand.”

Excellence

Rachel Roberts, GIS technician, is dedicated to excellence while meeting client needs, facilitating meetings, conducting high-quality GIS analysis, and all other aspects of her work. A key member of our GIS and data team, Rachel has earned a reputation for excellence throughout MFA and beyond, and her colleagues can always be certain that their requests to Rachel will be met with outstanding results.

Community

Ted Wall, vice president/principal engineer, is the winner in our community service category. This year, Ted engaged MFA employees in a volunteer project involving painting a newly acquired Portland Homeless Family Solutions property in Lents. The facility will support families through temporary shelter, homeless prevention programs, and life skills programs. Not only did Ted help complete an important project, he also helped foster team spirit at MFA and build our connections to our community.