On December 1st, 2022 WTS Orange County celebrated our first in-person Gala since 2019. The Gala was held at the Richard Nixon Public Library in Yorba Linda, CA. The library was beautifully decorated for the holidays, and guests enjoyed touring the museum grounds while they mingled with colleagues and friends. The event culminated in dinner in the presidential ballroom followed by the scholarship and awards ceremony. This year, WTS Orange County was able to give out $50,000 in scholarships to students obtaining high school, community college, undergraduate, and graduate degrees. These students also displayed a strong interest in transportation engineering and planning, many of them actively pursuing engineering degrees. These bright young women are the future of our industry, and we couldn’t be more proud to play a small role in helping them further their education.

 

We also handed out industry awards to industry movers and shakers. The winners included Jaimee Bourgeois (Woman of the Year), Les Card (Man of the Year), Melissa Gorman (Member of the Year), Gwendolyn Gray (Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership), AECOM (Employer of the Year), and OCTA’s Zero Emission Bus Program (Innovative Transportation Solutions). It was an incredible evening, and we are so grateful to our members, our Gala sponsors, and our Corporate Partners for helping us make it through another successful year. We can’t wait to see what 2023 holds.