Building Leadership: Conference for Women in Architecture, Engineering & Construction (AEC)

Conference Chair:

Aleisha Jaeger, Construction Director, Gilbane Building Company

The push towards diversity in most industries has made its way forward, but understanding the economic implications will explain the critical nature of increasing women’s involvement within AEC. By growing the number of women succeeding in AEC, we will cover how product quality and ultimate profitability can be improved dramatically.

• The business case for diversity with respect to including women and minorities in the decision-making process
• The effects diversity has on both creativity and innovation
• Variable perspectives rounding out the quality of the overall product created for clients
• Understanding the long-term effects diversity has on the lifecycle of an AEC business
• Stating your opinion: understanding why, regardless of background, your opinion is necessary for creating the best final product possible, and the nuanced challenges of introverts vs. extroverts
• Tactics for being a change agent and stating the economic value of your contributions
• A growing global marketplace and strategically hiring to represent a diverse clientele base

We just heard all the positive effects increasing diversity in AEC has on profitability and product quality, but the problem persists. We will attempt to answer the question as to why these changes haven’t been implemented and what is holding some companies back, practices that are hindering diversity and inclusion in AEC, and how these practices might be redirected to create a positive workplace atmosphere for all employees.

Moderator:

Aleisha Jaeger, Construction Director, Gilbane Building Company

Panelists:

Tracy Young, Co-Founder and CEO, PlanGrid

Gloria Shealey, President and CEO, The Daniele Company

Barbara Bouza, Managing Director, Principal, Gensler

Renita Mollman, Vice President and General Manager, Burns & McDonnell

Kim Wright, CEO, Wright Commissioning

• Uncovering current challenges in transparency on pay and negotiating tactics
• Understanding the difference between required experience and building confidence
• The continued problem of caregiving juxtaposed with career advancement: do women need to make the choice?
• Current best hiring practices, and what top companies are doing now to push for diversity
• Solving the inconsistency between AEC graduation rates those that stay in the career
• Finding the right work-life integration and developing time and project management skills to keep women on the AEC track to success
• Examining how these women have gotten where they are in the industry, and exploring where to go next
• Understanding implicit bias, and the effect it has on women’s career choices, even within AEC
• Challenges in diversity beyond women: inclusion for LGBT and minorities in AEC, and the effect this has on the workplace

Moderator:
Jacki Warner, HR Manager, Michels Corp.

Panelists:
Gwen Searer, Associate Principal, Wiss, Janney, and Elstner Associates

Stacy Guercia, President, CEO, and Chairman, Triton Builders

Katherine Warzynski, Project Engineer, Kiewit

• Men’s perspective on women’s gender issues in the workplace, and continuing the conversation to make a change
• Becoming aware of unconscious bias and the effect this has on success within AEC as a whole
• Techniques for talking about gender equity in a solution-driven way, meaningful to the advancement of both sides
• Understanding the communication techniques of both men and women, and how to navigate those gaps in reading signals, listening techniques, and natural reactions
• Looking at what men are doing now to help remove these barriers, and what more could be done to help maintain women in the profession
• Exploring the process for reverse mentoring and what both sides can bring to the other
• Discussing the role of employee resource groups and the value they have in the workplace: do these safe spaces encourage inclusiveness, or do they just create further division?
• The process for creating an employee resource group within your own organization

Moderator:

Allison Gries, Manager, OE Strategic Initiatives, AECOM

Panelists:

Mike Bellaman, CEO, Associated Builders and Contractors

Paul Hewins, Co-Chief Operating Officer, Skanska

Brian Kundert, Senior Vice President of HR, Arcadis

Alfredo Mendez, Senior Director – Talent Management, Diversity and Organization Effectiveness, AECOM

• Discussing the evolution of the project planning process to include new resiliency initiatives – focus on: site selection, licensing, contractors, engineering management, and stakeholder interaction
• Strategies for how to increase efficiency while enhancing public safety across communities
• Parsing the necessary technical challenges in green infrastructure and updating outdated structures pulling from the grid
• The impact of evolving team relations and accreditation requirements for engineers and architects
• Loading standards and requirements for analysis and design of buildings and infrastructure
• Understanding how these new codes and regulations will impact your design or structure, and how to most effectively merge client needs with compliance
• The response to climate change: what steps firms are proactively taking to protect the integrity of new construction and retrofitting old buildings and infrastructure
• Utilizing these new initiatives and advancements to lead these practices in your own firm

Fiona Cousins, Fellow, Principal, Mechanical Engineering and Sustainability Consulting, Arup

April Hughes, Owner and Managing Principal, HPZS Architects

Rachel Minnery, Senior Director of Sustainable Development Policy, AIA

Sara Ross, Senior Research Consulting Partner, Institute for Health and Human Potential (IHHP) 

• Strengthening your personal identity to find success within a male-dominated industry
• Casting off roles and responsibilities that have traditionally been assigned to women
• Discussing the perception of weakness and strength across generations in AEC
• The perception of women’s resource groups, and how they could appear as another form of exclusivity compared to a necessary support system
• Celebrating the differences of women and the contributions they make to the workplace as a benefit and an asset
• Cross-generational perceptions of diversity, mentorship, and leadership
• Parsing which programs have been tangibly successful and can be widely implemented
• Exploring the reasons women are leaving the industry, and what can be done to prevent it

Moderator:

Zoe Markwick, Commercial Director, Skanska

Panelists:

Yolanda Cole, Senior Principal and Owner, Hickok Cole Architects

Laura Farthing, Senior Engineer, Eugene Water & Electric Board

Gabrielle Bullock, Director of Global Diversity, Perkins & Will

Ann-Marie Jennette, Project Manager, Suffolk Construction

• Exploring new and innovative technologies in the AEC industry, and how each of them are affecting future designs and constructions. Focus on:
  • 3D rendering, the visualization of future projects and selling it to clients and investors
  • The economical use of UAV’s in site selection and project planning
  • Understanding how automated vehicles would change infrastructure, traffic engineering and transit systems
  • Using point clouds, project management software, and laser scanning technology: exploring their applications and limitations within the AEC sector
• Taking a realistic look at each of these technologies and expectations for the future of innovation: which of these can economically be implemented now, and which need more development?
• Strategies for using data analytics, necessary sensors, and error analysis in current projects and advancing these programs and economic benefits within your own firm

Jen Suerth, Vice President of Technical Services, Pepper Construction

• Parsing collaboration as a means to achieving new innovation and creativity
• Diversifying contributing views to develop a more well-rounded project and discussion
• The process for supporting women in the AEC fields
• Overcoming the “imposter syndrome” and the challenge of repeatedly proving yourself to belong
• Highlighting professional women in the trades and their contributions to new developments
• Individual challenges in regards to safety standards and gender issues women in the trades face
• Understanding the role of all professionals involved from concept through construction, and how collaboration between sectors and genders affects the ultimate bottom line
• Collaboration between each side of an integrated project delivery (IPD) contract, and the benefits that result from sharing responsibilities and risk
• A look at the opportunities in public-private partnerships and if this is the model for the future

Mary Brush, Principal, Architect, Brush Architects

Barbara Wagner, Senior Vice President, Clark Construction

Colleen Layman, Vice President, Resource Business Group Water Principal, HDR

Elizabeth Velez, President and Chief Contract Administrator, The Velez Organization