Women Thriving in Construction

So thrilled to share this global construction leadership report that highlights the thinking of 50 global construction leaders with a combined 1354 years of experience. Angela Hucker, CEO of Australia-based EPIC - Empowering People in Construction, joined IIWIC Founder Dr Gretchen Gagel and IIWIC Advisory Board member Doreen Bartoldus on the Women Thriving in Construction podcast to share key insi...

Few industries exhibited as much agility during the pandemic as the hospitality industry. As a fifth-generation hospitality/construction leader, Sarah Treadway, President/CEO of Stout Street Hospitality, discusses how they kept every hotel open after dropping from 600 to 86 employees in March 2020 in an effort to take care of as many of their employees as possible. Sarah shares amazing insights on...

I'm so grateful to our collaborative partners, the Australian Constructors Association (ACA) and NAWIC Australia, and to Dr. Helen Lingard of RMIT and SHINe and her co-author Dr. Michelle Turner for sponsoring and authoring our first country-specific white paper, which highlights several initiatives to support women in construction in Australia. Helen joined us on the Women Thriving in Constr...

Sam Clark, CEO of Clark Construction in Lansing Michigan, candidly shares his organization's six year diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Would you like for your organization to have a 99% engagement score? Or to grow from $200 million to $500 million in three years? Understanding "dominant culture" and learning how to build an inclusive organization has women and minorities b...

In this episode, we’re joined by Howard Ross — author, activist, and longtime leader in the field of diversity and inclusion — to explore unconscious bias and what meaningful inclusion looks like in practice. Howard challenges organizations to consider a powerful question: What if inclusion were approached with the same rigor and accountability as safety in the construction industry? Drawing from...

In this episode, we’re joined by Denise Burgess, a respected construction leader and recent inductee into the National Academy of Construction, to discuss her 30-year journey as an African American woman in the industry. Denise shares candid reflections on often being the only woman of color in the room, navigating bias, and persevering through intense scrutiny — including 1,200 audits on a major...

"Start with the attitude that it's possible." Such great advice from three extraordinary leaders in the construction industry. While each of us wants to be known simply as a leader who is good at her craft, women thriving in construction requires a long-term investment in women—a vision that supports women not at the expense of men but in support of everyone—to make it work. And it...

How exciting to be joined by co-host and fellow author Brent Darnell for this amazing podcast with UK construction industry leader and author Faye Allen to discuss her book, "Building Women: How Everyone In Construction Can Win". This book is a gift to the industry.  Faye speaks from experience when describing an industry that is "not great for men either," as evidenced by UK c...

In this episode, we explore how one moment of leadership accountability sparked lasting change in the pipeline industry. At an industry conference, APGA CEO Steve Davies publicly acknowledged the absence of women on a senior leader panel — and challenged the industry to do better. That moment led to the creation of the APGA Women’s Leadership Development Program, modeled after a similar initiative...

In this episode, we’re joined by Bill Proudman, co-founder of White Men as Full Diversity Partners (WMFDP), an organization that has worked for over 30 years at the intersection of leadership, equity, and inclusion. WMFDP partners with leaders to build cultures rooted in courage, consciousness, and competency — environments where people feel seen, connected, supported, and proud to belong. Bill sh...

In this episode, we highlight the importance of women supporting women to build a more inclusive construction industry. We’re joined by Erica Jones, Vice President of MMC Corporation and Founder of On The Rise , a program designed to elevate women in construction through focused leadership workshops. In addition to leading marketing for a $1.2 billion organization, Erica actively champions mentors...

Laura Miranda shares her journey from Columbia to Australia and how that led her to a two-year technical degree and to co-founding the podcast called "You Don't Look Like an Engineer". Laura's story is remarkable, wise beyond her years with incredible insights to share with us. 

Suzanne Arkle is a remarkable woman who has devoted her 25 year career to driving inclusivity in large construction programs. Suzanne shares her insights on how we can all help small business and underrepresented communities thrive in our industry.

Lisa Hinz, Founder of The Confidence Track, shares her journey with imposter syndrome and how she shifted from constantly reacting to focusing upon living an intentional life. Lisa shares concrete techniques for building confidence - finding safe environments to talk about self-doubt, identifying the triggers of self-doubt, and intentional responses to self-doubt. Lisa also shares specific techniq...

Jennifer Wilkerson, Vice President of Innovations and Advancements for the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) shares the results of a recent research, In Her Own Words: Improving Project Outcomes, that explores why we need more women in the trades (currently we have about 4%) and how we build the inclusive industry that will help them thrive. The research involved 29 f...

It started with a question. Why are we still having a conversation about women in construction? Simon Sinek taught us to start with why, and after 40+ years in construction, my "why" for starting the International Institute for Women in Construction is explained in probably the most meaningful podcast I've ever recorded. Thank you to IIWIC Board member Ale Spray for curating such a...

Evelyn Lai recently participated in a leadership panel at the Australian Pipelines and Gas Association annual conference and shared their experiences of being a gender diverse person in our industry. Evelyn takes the time to candidly share their journey and help us understand how we can create an industry where all people feel they belong.

Dean Riha of Fulton Hogan shares a case study of the implementation of the construction industry Culture Standard in Australia that focuses upon increasing 1) time for life, 2) wellbeing, and 3) diversity while improving productivity and project outcomes.  This pilot project finished on time, on budget, and people worked 21 days less with no loss in take home pay and no loss in productivity. RMIT&...

Angie Cacace and Kate Glantz are two tradeswomen who are doing amazing work to attract teenage girls into the construction industry. Their strategy of a free "sassy little magazine" for not only these girls also but their parents, guidance counselors, and teachers with specific information on how to explore a career in construction trades is incredibly creative. 

Perlla makes many great points during this discussion of how to attract more women into construction trades, including the fact that they must like it. She also provides concrete tips for how men can support women in our industry. 

Margot Brassil, Director, Construction Leadership Group, Infrastructure New South Wales (NSW), the state containing Sydney in Australia, joins the podcast.  With A$118 B in infrastructure projects in the state over the next four years, NSW is committed to creating a more gender balanced construction industry to facilitate success. An initial A$20.2 million investment has been renewed, funding stra...