Central Florida Area

About Us

High school students in the Central Florida area can now benefit from the nationwide ACE Mentor Program designed to introduce them to the wide range of career opportunities in architecture, construction, engineering, and/or related areas of the building design and construction industry. With significant support from the local design and construction community, our affiliate is entering its 14th year of serving Central Florida high schools.

At bi-weekly meetings (which are held every other Wednesday from 6-8PM), student teams work directly with professionals from leading area firms, who volunteer their time to mentor the teams as they design hypothetical projects, tour local construction sites, and visit architectural, engineering and construction offices.

For students, it’s a unique opportunity to discover and develop new skills, solidify future goals and get on track to exciting, rewarding careers. In addition, many students form positive relationships with industry professionals who can provide important references for obtaining college admissions, scholarships, internships, and full time employment. In the 2023-2024 school year there are three programs meeting in Osceola, Orange and Seminole counties. During this past year students have also gotten to tour two jobsites. The locations are as follows:

See Map at the bottom of the page:

  • PCL Construction Services
    6700 Forum Dr., Suite 100, Orlando, FL 32821
  • Welbro
    2301 Maitland Center Pkwy #250, Maitland, FL 32751
  • KPM Franklin
    222 Church St, Kissimmee, FL 34741

Students interested in joining this program for the 2023-2024 school year need to apply online at this website. Go to the main ACE page at www.acementor.org, Click on the sign into your account/register with a program on the top right corner. This will prompt you to complete the online application.

Volunteers

Calling all Design Professionals in Central Florida! We need your enthusiasm and expertise. Please email us for more information about upcoming meetings for leaders and mentors and register online. Students in the ACE program work closely with their mentors on projects that provide hands-on experience in solving the types of design, engineering and construction challenges industry professionals confront every day.

Enroll today at https://app.acementor.org/login

Visit us on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/acementorprogramofcentralfl

Donations are needed to keep this program going

Donations are used for scholarships, supplies, fieldtrips, etc. If you are interested in making a donation please, make checks payable to ACE Mentor Program of Central Florida, Inc., and send to Andrew Laney, c/o Winter Park National Bank 201 N. New York Ave., Ste 100 Winter Park FL 32789 or select the Donate now button below.

Contacts

Travis Kolbjornsen, LEED AP
Chairman
Jones Architectural Creations

Joe Knous, RA
Vice Chairman
studio1+
All Lead Mentors Contact

Adel Shalaby
Nick Pepe
Brad Kroger

Location Leaders

PCL Location
Emma Svantesson
Ben Harrison
Haley Bodway

Osceola County
(KPM Franklin office)

Tim Ferris
Amy Benson
Silvia Gildewell

North/Downtown Orlando
(Balfour Beaty office)

Sean Dillon JR.
Ivan Pastirak

2023-2024 Student
Informational Flyer

Download Flyer.

2023-2024 Mentor Meeting Schedule

View the meeting schedule.

Trades Day Student Flyer

In progress

2023-2024 Fieldtrip #1 Packet

Download the CIRT Information Packet

CIRT National Competition 2023-2024

Download the CIRT Information Packet

Board of Directors

Our board is comprised of local industry leaders who make a significant contribution to our affiliate. We are grateful for their continuing support.
View our board members.

Participate in ACE!

If you’d like to experience ACE’s challenges, opportunities and rewards for yourself, contact us today!