September 14, 2021

We are pleased to welcome Andraya Parrish, our new Senior Technical Engineer, to Epstein’s MEP department! Since joining, Andraya has been working as the lead electrical engineer for our Jushi projects. She’s been spending most of her time performing calculations to create electrical load summaries, ensuring drawings and specifications are ready for submission for project deliverables, working with the different Jushi project teams, and also participating with our DEI group and the Epstein Community Foundation. Previously, Andraya spent 2.5 years at Burns and McDonnel, designing data centers.

Andraya attended Iowa State University and graduated with a BS in electrical engineering and minor in Spanish. While at ISU, she was involved with the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and Learning thru Engineering Academic Diversity (LEAD), serving as a peer mentor. Andraya also participated in a study abroad program in Valladolid, Spain and was involved with the Black Student Government Association (BGSA) and George Washington Carver Scholar program.

Andraya has always been very detail oriented and curious; her parents, therefore, focused her energy from being “nosy” to math, science and reading. The first class she took that challenged her was physics and, from then, she was hooked. Her major in electrical engineering had a focus on communications systems. After graduating, she couldn’t find a job in that field so she took the first offer she received, which was to design power systems for data centers. 17 years later, she has never made use of all those digital signal processing classes she took, but she does use the engineering degree!

Andraya was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago and attended Morgan Park High School. She has been singing and performing all her life, and singing in church since she was 4-years-old. She participated in and won several singing competitions and talent shows at the historic Regal Theater from the ages of 8-12. She also used to do voice over work and spent some time in the recording studio as a session singer doing background singing. Andraya even had her own 30-minute show on the kids stage at the Taste of Chicago two summers in a row and sang the National Anthem at a fundraiser for former President George Bush (senior).

Growing up, Andraya was also in a performing group from the ages of 9-16 that wrote and produced their own music. That led to a miniseries on WTTW and recordings for Chicago Public Schools curriculum promoting ethics for kids from a kid’s perspective. Nowadays, she sings in the car with her daughter, at weddings and funerals, karaoke, and as part of a praise and worship team at church.

Although music is her first love, Andraya also loves to cook and travel. She is the mom of an 8-year-old genius who reminds her every day that she’s smarter (and almost taller) than Andraya. They have a 9-year-old, 80lb adopted Black Lab mix name Rocko as well as a 6-month-old, 8lb Yorkie named Kashmyre. Oh, and who could forget the leopard gecko named Spotiana Grande (after her daughter’s favorite singer Ariana Grande). Additionally, Andraya is recently engaged (congratulations!) and has a great proposal story that involves almost getting arrested (wait…). Her future husband has added an exponential amount of love to her life in the form of his five children and granddaughter. “Yep, I’m a grandmother, pray for me.”

And on that note! Once again, welcome to Epstein, Andraya, we’re delighted to have you join us.