Halff Honors Samantha Kaschel with 2026 HCI Outstanding Volunteer Award

Samantha Kaschel (center) was presented with Halff’s HCI Outstanding Volunteer Award by Senior Vice President Leigh Hollis (right) and Deputy Operations Manager Melanie Cleavelin (left) in April during Halff’s Employee Awards program.   

Environmental Team Leader Samantha Kaschel was recently honored with Halff’s HCI Outstanding Volunteer Award. The recognition honors an individual who goes above and beyond to support Halff Community Initiative, the firm’s nonprofit arm.

As the HCI representative for Halff’s Austin office, Samantha has been a critical leader for the nonprofit. Under her guidance, the Austin office reached more than $65,000 in employee contributions in 2025. She has been integral in creating opportunities for employees to engage with their communities—Austin employees logged 375 total volunteer hours last year.

Samantha’s expertise and leadership culminated last year during HCI Giving Week in Austin, where her work resulted in 90 total volunteer hours served and seven nonprofits supported in one week. She’s played a key role in building excitement around giving back and making it easy for employees to get involved.

HCI Outstanding Volunteer Award winner Samantha Kaschel presents a $1,000 check on behalf of Halff Community Initiative to Backpack Friends, an Austin-area nonprofit that sends kids in need home with packed bags full of meals.

Halff Senior Vice President Leigh Hollis and Deputy Operations Manager Melanie Cleavelin honored Kaschel with the award recently as part of Halff’s Employee Awards program.

“Samantha truly embodies what HCI is all about,” said Halff Public Works Project Manager Aleesha Toteja. “She’s always looking for ways to support new charities in Austin and consistently finds opportunities to give back. She leads with a servant mindset and is always thinking about how to help others get involved. So much of what makes HCI successful in North Austin happens behind the scenes because of Samantha’s dedication. She really is the heart and soul of our HCI efforts, and this recognition is incredibly well deserved.”

The award, created in 2022, goes to an exemplary individual who not only supports HCI but embodies it. They are a leader who loves to serve others, representing the heart of HCI. Awardees are nominated by a steering committee and selected by the board.

The Halff Community Initiative, founded in 2017 as a nonprofit, is employee-run and designed to give back to communities where we live and work.

Previous HCI Award Winners Include:

(2024) Transportation Administrative Assistant Adria Tisdale
(2023) Civil Engineer Chris Tralmer
(2022) Transportation Project Manager Adam Kane