{"id":847442,"date":"2025-05-11T09:11:55","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T14:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/11\/adrian-russell-helps-diverse-businesses-and-individuals-to-succeed-in-the-construction-industry\/"},"modified":"2025-05-11T09:11:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-11T14:11:55","slug":"adrian-russell-helps-diverse-businesses-and-individuals-to-succeed-in-the-construction-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/11\/adrian-russell-helps-diverse-businesses-and-individuals-to-succeed-in-the-construction-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Adrian Russell: Helps Diverse Businesses and Individuals to Succeed in the Construction Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Adrian<\/p>

\n

Adrian Russell
Photo by Bruce Buckley for ENR<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\n

\nBack To:<\/strong>
\nENR 2025 Top 20 Under 40<\/a><\/span>
\n<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n

Adrian Russell<\/strong>
\n36, Director of Supplier Diversity<\/em>
\nShiel Sexton Co.<\/strong>
\nIndianapolis\u00a0<\/em>
<\/em><\/p>\n

While Adrian Russell has participated in landmark projects in Indianapolis that include Lucas Oil Stadium, Gainbridge Fieldhouse and the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital, one that stands out most to him is closer to his home\u2014a new swimming pool historic Frederick Douglass Park located in the city’s near eastside neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a park that serves as an important treasure within the black local community and, at a point in time, it was the only park that African Americans could go to for amenities such as a swimming pool,\u201d Russell says. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Russell takes pride in giving back to the neighborhoods he grew up in and around.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to touch so many people from around the city and from that community, those neighborhoods, particularly children and young people, is something I\u2019m proud of, especially knowing that I swam in that swimming pool as a kid,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

In his role at Shiel Sexton, Russell has led the company in mentoring and is an authority in enacting diversity strategies. In so doing, he has helped elevate numerous diverse businesses that would have otherwise had little chance to succeed in an industry and market that have, historically, struggled to embrace diversity.<\/p>\n

Commenting on current national move away from DEI, Russell says that \u201cthere\u2019s always going to be a necessary business case for [it].\u201d He emphasizes that \u201cregardless of what we title it,\u201d needs that DEI answers have \u201calways been around in America.\u201d adding that \u201cthere\u2019s still a necessity for us to continue … giving everyone, regardless of who they are or where they\u2019re from, a fair shot to advance and excel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell acknowledges that the current national environment presents challenges but is determined to continue his work. \u201cYou have to respect and honor mandates,\u201d he says, \u201chowever, the work does not stop. The work does not stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell has overseen a positive shift in Shiel Sexton\u2019s record on diversity, with changes in interview practices, annual review processes and recruitment and retention strategies, as well as a new mentorship program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Discussing the industry\u2019s future, Russell names \u201cworkforce and labor shortages\u201d as its biggest challenge, which have been \u201cpresent and prevalent throughout the entirety of our industry.\u201d In response, the industry has to both \u201cgrow the pool \u2026 to diversify talent\u201d and \u201cembrace technology as a natural answer to workforce and labor shortages,\u201d he believes.<\/p>\n

Russell is doing much himself to grow the pool: he founded the nonprofit Russell\u2019s Building Camp, which helps young people gain construction experience and boost industry exposure by creating and building projects. One participant, a high school junior, texted Russell with \u201ca few selfies\u201d taken on jobsites he visited. Russell says one photo shows the student \u201cactually working a controller operating a drone.” The student was shocked that something like that was used in construction. “He felt as if he was just playing a video game,\u201d Russell relays.<\/p>\n

There’s an opportunity for the industry to \u201crebrand behind technology\u201d to \u201cmeet young people directly where they are\u201d and show them they can \u201cuse skills that come naturally to [them] while still making a great living building through the trades,\u201d the manager believes.<\/p>\n

Russell is highly involved in the industry and actively helps represent Shiel Sexton in a range of groups, from the Indiana Construction Roundtable and National Association of Women in Construction to Youth Build, Minority Engineering Program of Indianapolis and Junior Achievement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Lloyd Geddes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adrian Russell Photo by Bruce Buckley for ENR Back To: ENR 2025 Top 20 Under 40 Adrian Russell 36, Director of Supplier Diversity Shiel Sexton Co. Indianapolis\u00a0 While Adrian Russell has participated in landmark projects in Indianapolis that include Lucas Oil Stadium, Gainbridge Fieldhouse and the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital, one that stands out<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":847443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36349,108],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-847442","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-adrian","8":"category-russell"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}