Ashley Tiano: Warrensville High School ACE Mentor

By Montrie Rucker Adams, APR, DTM, MBA, Visibility Marketing Inc., Q & A with Ashley Tiano

For two years, Ashley Tiano has served as a mentor for the ACE students at Warrensville High School.

Tiano, a project engineer with Infinity Construction, heard about the program. For a while she had looked for something she could do.  “It’s a neat program that gets the kids involved in thinking about different careers and problem solving,” she said.

“When I was younger, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. It took me a long time to decide. I thought that I could find a good program that exposes kids to different careers in construction. Different careers in general,” she adds.

Tiano is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “As I was finishing my Associates Degree from the Community College of Allegheny County, I could not find a job. I wanted to do more in construction and decided to go to Kent State University,” said Tiano, explaining how she ended up in the Cleveland area.

Tiano has worked at Infinity for four years, starting as co-op (intern) while still in school at Kent State University where she majored in Construction Management. “My responsibilities now are acting as a superintendent on a 1.5 million dollar job,” she adds.

The Construction Employment Association was the catalyst for Tiano becoming involved with ACE.  “I originally heard about the program from a friend, and wanted to learn more and how to get involved,” mentions Tiano. “At the time, the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) had an event at CEA’s office. I was told to talk to Glen Shumate.  I talked to him and he helped me contact the right people and get my name on the list to become a mentor.  Since then, CEA has played a huge part in supporting ACE and helping with resources, ideas and other information,” said Tiano.

What do you like about the ACE program?

I love seeing how enthusiastic and passionate the students get about their ideas - and the creativity they use to come up with them. I enjoy exposing them to things they didn’t know or wouldn’t have thought about before.  

The project they are working on is called Healthy Connections. I brought them to my job site, Oakwood Commons, in South Euclid. We are adding two buildings to that center. It’s passive landscaping, a sustainable site, next to a LEED-certified Wal-Mart. It has a lot of elements of our Healthy Connections project, including pathways that lures the people to the store. Healthy Connections promotes getting outdoors and walking around, which helps the planet. By working on the project, I am able to show them the details that go into the site.

I gave them a tour of the whole site. There’s a park in the back. The walking trails, including the park, is a good example of connecting to the community.  The sustainable aspect and walking trails that promote healthy living shows the different ways that the plaza is a healthy connection.

I enjoy the program, and am excited that I found out about it. I like that it’s a national program and that other areas around the country are offering it. I love the dinner where the kids present their project. They are proud of their accomplishments.

What project are you working on with Infinity Construction?

We are a medium-sized Construction Management firm and General Contractor located in Warrensville Heights.  We do a lot of commercial construction, healthcare, schools, retail and self-performing carpentry work. We do a lot of build-outs, renovation and new construction.

As a project engineer, I handle a lot of paperwork and background information, but I am out in the field a lot. I manage the job which includes scheduling, problem-solving in the field and answering questions from the owner and architect.

If you had to sell the ACE program, what would you say?

I’d say that it’s a great program where a lot of industries in architecture, construction and engineering come together and work on a project. The scholarship program is outstanding and it’s the main reason the students participate. It is unbelievable!

How do you see yourself giving back to the community?  

Through ACE, I really like talking to the kids and getting them thinking about the future, how important scholarships are, and how this is a good program.

I am also in the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), which has a lot of community activities for kids in construction.

Is there anything about the program that you would do differently?

ACE is only for certain schools and we’re trying to increase the number of schools that offer the program.  There was one student who found out about ACE and could join, even though he was not attending one of the participating schools. I’m hoping we can open up the program to other students if the program is not offered at their school.