This article is part of a series of profiles of this year’s Mira Awards finalists across a variety of categories. Read about all the 2026 Mira Awards finalists in our digital event program.

Akilah Darden was a finalist for the Resilience Award at the 2026 Mira Awards. She was nominated for breaking barriers as a Black woman in construction leadership while creating measurable opportunity for minority-, women- and disadvantaged-owned businesses. Her leadership combines industry success, mentorship, training and community impact, turning systemic inequities into pathways for others.

From Architecture to the Job Site

Originally from the D.C. metropolitan area, Akilah Darden began her journey at North Carolina A&T State University studying architectural engineering. After graduation, it took her 12 hours to realize she wanted something else. She began applying for jobs, and after 25 rejections she landed her first construction job with Centex Homes.

She had a passion for engineering and wanted to become a licensed professional engineer, which required working under an already established and licensed PE. That requirement pushed her toward commercial construction.

At Akridge, she became the youngest person ever promoted to project manager at the company, overseeing a $35 million office building near the White House while coordinating closely with nationally renowned historic preservationists. She later went on to renovate a historic church and an adjacent 11-story building.

Building a Business and a Home in Indianapolis

She took the risk of moving into an operations executive role in Indianapolis, working for a Cincinnati-based general contractor doing business development and learning the local community subcontractor market. After the company grew, she was offered a move to Cincinnati, but she refused. Indianapolis had become her home.

She went on to join a local general contractor, where she recognized an opportunity to strengthen training and upskilling across the subcontractor market. That realization led her to focus heavily on education and development.

This is when she decided to start her own business, to serve as a liaison between corporations and general contractors and to educate people in construction. This is when The Darden Group LLC and the Construction Management Masterclass were born. In 2022 she won a Mira Award for Community Impact for the Masterclass’s effect on the industry.  

“It’s always impossible until it’s done.”

Turning 45 Days into Measurable Impact

The Masterclass’s first project was the Cook Manufacturing Facility, now the Goodwill Manufacturing Facility, on the Far Eastside of Indianapolis. The goal was 100% diverse participation. Darden had 45 days to identify a general contractor and build a subcontractor pool that could deliver it.  

The result: 97% minority-owned business participation, a 100% minority-owned general contractor and 76 new hires into construction, 46 of them diverse. Workers who got their start on that project went on to build the Indy Fresh Market and later IU Health’s $4 billion campus, the largest healthcare system in North America.  

Filling Her Cup to Fill Others’

Akilah highlighted the importance of having a strong support system, one that fills her cup so she can go on to fill others’ cups.  

Shortly after moving to Indianapolis, she heard a prominent local woman speak after an embarrassing moment. She still introduced herself, and that introduction grew into a mentor-mentee connection. She credits this mentor’s influence and advocacy in rooms she wasn’t a part of as instrumental to both her trajectory in Indianapolis and her confidence to take on difficult challenges and engage with high-level executives, CEOs and financiers.  

She also describes herself as a “serial mentor” with mentees across construction, engineering, architecture, entrepreneurship, business and negotiation, and has helped launch about 15 entrepreneurs across different industries. Her guiding philosophy comes down to two ideas: “If you see me, you can be me” and “what you see is what you’ll be.”

Akilah Darden, founder of The Darden Group LLC, smiles while holding a Mira Award trophy at a podium.
Akilah Darden, founder of The Darden Group LLC, accepts a 2022 Mira Award onstage.

Recognized for Everything Except Her Expertise  

As a Black woman in a field dominated by white men, there are visible obstacles. However, she pointed to a deeper, less obvious hardship: being reduced to a “DEI,” community-engagement or supplier-diversity figure rather than being recognized first as a construction expert.

“People don’t gain expertise because of their race and ethnicity,” Darden said. “It’s because of their knowledge. It’s because of their experience.”

She holds a degree in building and construction management, has led $2 billion in projects across 15 industries and runs procurement, builds schedules, drives work and helps construction professionals and businesses grow. She’s taught at Clark Construction University and done extensive teaching throughout her career but feels Indianapolis doesn’t know the full picture of who she is professionally.

Darden pointed to her own community impact recognition from TechPoint as a turning point. On stage, she made an unscripted commitment to help a $1.6 billion project within IU Health’s broader $4 billion campus reach 30% diversity participation. The project ultimately delivered roughly $700 million in diverse participation, exceeding the goal she set that night.

For Darden, that moment is proof that builders belong in conversations about innovation, not on the sidelines of them.

Want to see the full list of this year’s honorees? Check out the 2026 Mira Awards digital program here.