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At LDG, our culture encourages our people to make value-driven decisions for themselves, their clients, and their communities. Stewardship Stories share the experiences of our employee owners as they give back to the communities in which they live and work through financial support, volunteer commitments, and more.
We spoke with LDG Federal Operations Manager & Senior Vice President Bruce Preston, who is based in our Phoenix, AZ office, about his recent experience volunteering at a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) camp sponsored by LDG and the Society of Military Engineers (SAME) Phoenix Post.
Tell us about this recent event.
In June, the SAME Phoenix Post hosted the annual half day K-12 STEM camp in partnership with iFly indoor skydiving. Myself, SAME Phoenix Post President Ed Mears, and 43 kids attended a general physics lesson, a separate education or training track, and a chance to fly both low and high in the tunnel. LDG and the Post co-sponsored the event, so the camp was free for the kids.
This was the second year that SAME Phoenix Post hosted this event, after a good turnout of around 30 K-12 students in 2022. We decided to sponsor and subsidize the event again and we anticipate doing so for the foreseeable future.
What did you enjoy most about it?
I enjoyed being able to take some time out of my day and spending it with my own kids watching them learn about the general physics of skydiving, including air resistance (drag), terminal velocity, forces, Newton’s Laws of Motion, etc. along with being able to share the experience of indoor skydiving.
RELATED: LDG Appoints Bruce Preston as Senior Vice President of its Federal Group
You’re very involved with SAME – can you share your background with the organization?
Since joining SAME in 2012, I have had quite a lot of involvement, starting with serving on the golf tournament committee for the organization’s Phoenix Post. By 2016, I took over as Post Treasurer and held that position for four years. I also served as Post President in 2020 and 2021 and Immediate Past President in 2022, and I have been the Golf Tournament Chair for the last five years (excluding 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), along with Casino Night Chair (2021 and 2022). Additionally, I have served on our scholarship committee for the last five years. My recent involvement has been beyond the local Post level, as I was selected as the Deputy Regional Vice President for the SAME Southwest Region in 2021 and then as Regional Vice President in 2022-2024.
I also graduated from SAME’s Leadership Development Program in 2021. During this time, I sat on two national communities of interest (), which are working groups of industry professionals that aim to address specific areas within the SAME organization and provide an opportunity for government and industry to work together.
ABOUT LDG
Founded in 1986, LDG is an award-winning, 100 percent employee-owned national architecture, engineering, and consulting firm with 18 offices in seven states and a vision to elevate client relationships, enrich the careers and lives of its employee-owners, and enhance the communities in which it operates.
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