Amber Meshack is the Director of the Business, Jobs, & Social Responsibility (BJSR) Division at Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). LAWA is the City of Los Angeles public agency that owns and operates Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the fourth busiest airport in the world, as well as Van Nuys General Aviation Airport (VNY). LAWA established BJSR in 2018 to advance social responsibility and maximize access to business and career opportunities at LAWA.

As Director of the BJSR Division, Ms. Meshack is responsible for workforce and business opportunity programs including: ensuring delivery of inclusivity commitments for the $14B LAWA capital program, overseeing LAWA’S First Source Hiring Program, managing the small contractor development and bonding assistance program, and developing strategic partnerships for business and workforce development.

Under her leadership, BJSR established LAWA’s first small contractor training program, the BuildLAX Academy; launched the Contract Finance Assistance Program to support access to financing for small construction contractors; established the first Inclusivity Team dedicated to capital projects oversight; led the development and implementation of LAWA’s policy to require Inclusivity commitments as a competitively scored category in all major procurements; and directed the first study at LAWA to examine gaps in contracting equity correlated to race and gender.

Prior to taking on the role of BJSR Director, Ms. Meshack worked on the LAX Landside Access Modernization Program (LAMP), where she managed executive operations and procurements, including for the City’s largest ever public-private-partnership (P3) project, the $4.9B Automated People Mover, the largest contract ever entered into by the City of Los Angeles. As part of that effort, Ms. Meshack was responsible for developing the local hire, workforce, and small, local, and disadvantaged business contracting requirements, the first such performance requirements included in the US P3 market.

Before coming to LAX, Ms. Meshack helped to establish the City of Los Angeles Neighborhood Council system and was an organizer with the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, “The Living Wage Coalition”, helping to establish local livable wages.