EL SEGUNDO HERALD June 24, 2021 Page 5
Amber Meshack from front page
construction work to put herself through
Berkeley Law School.
The idea behind this initiative is to make
sure that this career opportunity is available
across the board, providing a chance to build
a lucrative career, whether in construction or
working in another capacity at the airport.
Meshack oversees business connections in
every facet of the airport, from construction
to food and stores inside the terminals to IT.
She strives to hire local businesses to help in
the airport’s operation and works to make sure
that locals are hired by these businesses and
the airport. LAX goes as far as to contract
a local photographer or graphic artist on a
project-by-project basis. She encourages local
businesses and entrepreneurs to present their
ideas and get involved.
Monthly, Meshack meets with what she
calls their Innovation Lab. Each month, her
team invites vendors to present ideas for
goods and services. “We’ve gotten some
really innovative ideas and partnerships in
that way.” Meshack lists things like apps,
environmental upgrades, services, and designs.
Meshack herself comes from a background
of working for the city. When this department
was created, she was working as a chief of
staff for the new people mover train project.
Meshack was sourced to get her current division
up and running. Using her knowledge of
the city and management experience, she set
to work developing strategies for the airport
to be more inclusive.
“When we say diversity from all walks
of life, we do have an emphasis on…heavy
recruitment in the communities that are closest
to the airport,” says Meshack. In addition,
when she draws up a contract with a vendor
for the airport, a clause almost always exists
that ensures fair, diverse, and local hiring.
For the businesses she strives to include,
she says that the airport provides in-house
recruitment teams, which lessens the effort
on the business to go through the time and
labor-intensive process of hiring.
Meshack’s future goals for the airport and
her division revolve around the continuation
of her team’s efforts to increase inclusivity
and expand diversity. “We [want to] continue
to apply best practices for increasing
diversity and equity in everything we do as
an airport. Our CEO Justin Erbacci always
says, ‘it’s not just what we do, it’s how we
do it,’” she says.
On June 23rd, Meshack’s team will be
holding a webinar intended to inform vendors
about how to implement diversity and
inclusion, as well as what the diverse LAX
customer and workforce is looking for right
now. For more information on the webinar,
HireLAX, or BuildLAX, visit the Los Angeles
World Airports (LAWA) career page or email
businessandjobs@lawa.org. •
The California Labor & Workforce Development Agency visits HireLAX
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