Kennedy Jenks announced today that Emily Hudish, PE was named as one of Engineering News Record’s (ENR) 2023 Top Young Professionals in the Mountain States region. The annual recognition honors the top rising stars in the engineering and construction industry across 10 regions in the U.S., with the highest scoring entrants moving on to the national Top 20 Under 40 competition in early 2023.
Hudish, a Vice President and Operations Manager for Kennedy Jenks’ Colorado operations, has been with the company since 2008. She is responsible for successfully driving the company’s Colorado business forward through proactive leadership and collaboration, remaining client-focused and active in the marketplace while also leading a profitable operation. Day-to-day, she leads a team of 18 Colorado-based engineers, scientists, and construction managers who work on projects across the US.
“Working at KJ over the last 14 years has provided endless opportunities for me to become a technical and operational leader,” Hudish remarked. “KJ supports me as a working mother and an outdoor enthusiast. We have created a strong team culture that cares about one another, our clients and the environment.”
In addition to her pursuit of excellence in client delivery and business results, Hudish has been heavily involved in culture-driving initiatives at the company including serving as a past co-chair for the KJ New Professionals Initiative employee resource group, leading KJ’s groundwater community of practice, and regularly connecting professionals across KJ’s offices.
Hudish, an advocate for workplace benefits and known for embracing change, was one of the driving forces behind developing the KJ Cares Leave Policy, an industry-leading paid leave program available to staff at Kennedy Jenks that provides an additional six weeks of 100% paid parental leave for new parents or up to three weeks of 100% paid family leave to care for a family member on an annual basis for qualified caregiving situations. The KJ Cares Leave Policy is designed to work in conjunction with existing state leave programs, allowing Kennedy Jenks employees the flexibility and financial support they need to meet their caregiving needs. As a mother of two young children, Hudish is driven to help the industry support parents that want to excel in their careers.
Outside of work, Hudish’s volunteer work has included extensive fundraising and advocacy efforts on behalf of Water for People, and her commitment to volunteer service and leadership was recognized when she received the Kenneth J. Miller Founders Award in 2014-2015. She is also a recipient of the Mondialogo Humanitarian Engineering Award, an intercultural dialog and exchange initiative sponsored by Daimler and UNESCO, for leading a team of seven students to design a plan for water purification and distribution, human waste management, energy sources and financial funding for a village of 10,000 people in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
A licensed professional engineer in Colorado and Nebraska, Hudish received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, with a minor in Public Affairs for Engineers from the Colorado School of Mines in 2005.
About Kennedy Jenks
Kennedy Jenks is a leading water and environmental engineering firm that serves public agencies and industrial clients with over 425 employees nationwide. The employee-owned firm delivers innovative design, construction and technology solutions for water, industrial and environmental projects across the United States.
Media Contact
Suzanne Broadbent, Senior Director of Communications
media@kennedyjenks.com
