Gold Axe Honorees from SCE
Every semester, NAU chooses a small group of seniors whose commitment to leadership, academics, and service is equal to the spirit of the Lumberjack community. This semester’s Gold Axe Award winners from the Sanghi College of Engineering are Ellington Baggerly, Fatima Botello, and Olivia Vester. From building teams that serve others to creating spaces for extracurricular activities, these students show what it means to lead with purpose.
Ellington Baggerly
Ellington Baggerly, a construction management major who will be graduating in December 2025, said when he learned he had been named a Gold Axe Award recipient, he was surprised and didn’t expect them to consider his application.
“On a personal level, I was very surprised,” Baggerly said. “Someone saying, ‘Hey, with what you’ve done, you deserve to be recognized,’ was pretty cool.”
Baggerly served six years in the military as a heavy construction operator, starting his college career with real-world experience. At NAU, he said he put that experience into his coursework and extracurricular activities, especially through the university’s construction management club and the annual Reno Construction Management Competition. He said the competition shaped his ability to help support others and work as a team.
That collaboration and leadership helped him in multiple aspects of his college career. For Baggerly, leadership is about service. He named Professor Rob Bruner as his educator of influence because of how Bruner taught him to serve first and lead last.
“He’s always taught us to be servant leaders, to serve first and lead last,” Baggerly said. “Be there for people, be kind, and care for them. That’s something I’ve carried with me through everything I’ve done.”
After graduation, Baggerly said he wants to join a general contractor as a project engineer. His long-term goal is to own his own construction company.
Baggerly said he hopes his time at NAU is remembered for his outlook and the way he kept pushing forward for the things he cared about.
“I’d want people to remember how positive I was,” he said. “Even if things got hard, I always tried to find the good in it.”
Fatima Botello
Fatima Botello, a senior majoring in construction management, said earning the Gold Axe Award meant more to her than just personal success. She said it’s also about highlighting the growing community she helped create for women in a historically male-dominated field.
Botello spent her last year as president of Women in Construction (WiC), where she led overall transformations of the club’s visibility and impact on students and NAU faculty.
When Botello first joined WiC, the number of students was low, never moving above a dozen. By the end of her presidency, the club had expanded to nearly 50 members and had become one of the program’s largest student organizations.
“My main goal was making sure people knew about all the amazing things the club was doing,” Botello said. “Getting the award showed me that everything I did kind of mattered, that we got the recognition we worked for.”
Botello helped WiC organize professional development opportunities, mentorship programs, and a large fundraising dinner that connected students with industry leaders.
“We hosted our biggest event, our fundraising dinner, and raised almost $10,000 from 19 construction companies,” Botello said. “Over 100 people attended, and we had three incredible keynote speakers who were some of my favorite women in the industry.”
Botello’s efforts have helped reshape the club, making it more inclusive. She said her educator of influence, Cami Iacona, always encouraged her to take risks and believe in herself.
“I’d have these crazy ideas, and she’d always say, ‘Do it,’” Botello said. “When we decided to make Women in Construction its own club, not everyone supported it, but Cami believed in us.”
After graduation, Botello said she will continue her journey at Southland Industries, where she has worked as a project engineer intern for two years. She said she hopes to continue advocating diversity in construction, regardless of where she ends up after graduation.
Olivia Vester
Olivia Vester, a computer science major, said that receiving the Gold Axe Award carries special meaning. When she first arrived at NAU, she wasn’t sure where she would fit in, or what she wanted to study.
She said she started as a film major before switching over to computer science. She found her place not only in her major, but also through her work at KJACK Radio, NAU’s student-run radio station. Botello became a key part of the team, first as news manager and later as operations programming manager, overseeing the technical and creative elements of the radio.
“KJACK has been my thing all throughout NAU,” Botello said. “It’s my passion. I’ve made this station something that’s mine, but also something I can pass off proudly.”
Brian Rackham, Vester’s educator of influence, helped her navigate both technical and leadership challenges, and she said she is grateful for his constant support and advice whenever she enters his office.
“Anything I’ve struggled with, he’s always been there to give me good advice,” Vester said. “It’s nice to have someone who really understands what I’m doing and supports it.”
Vester said if she could go back and give herself advice, she would tell herself to get out more and spend time doing what she loves. She said making time for extracurricular activities is an important way to take a break and breathe.
“Go outside, talk to people,” Vester said. “Everyone else is also a weirdo freak, you just have to overcome that.”
Vester said she hopes her legacy at NAU lives in the clubs she attended and through the people they met. She said she hopes KJACK will think of her fondly when they see resources she left behind for them. Vester said the Gold Axe Award was not just about proving something but was also validation of a journey she had to discover and make herself.
Whether through hands-on service, advocacy, or mentorship, Baggerly, Botello, and Vester each represent different leadership skills within SCE. Their achievements remind us that leadership is not just about what you build, but also about who you support and inspire along the way.