CONFERENCE AGENDA

4:30pm - 6:30pm
Lower Atrium

Registration – badge pick-up

7:15am - 8:15am
Market Foyer
Grand Ballroom Foyer

Registration

Continental Breakfast & Exhibits

8:20am - 8:30am
Grand Ballroom

Program Welcome & Introduction

Janice L. Tuchman, Editor-in-Chief, Engineering News Record
Melinda Gentile, Partner, Peckar & Abramson P.C.

8:30am - 8:40am
Grand Ballroom

Keynote Introduction

8:40am - 9:40am
Grand Ballroom

Keynote Address

This celebrated women’s leadership expert and coach and author of the newly published How Women Rise: Break the Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion or Job, will draw on her work with legendary executive coach Marshall Goldsmith to identify and address behaviors most likely to impede women seeking to move to a higher level. Please join us for GWIC's don't-miss opening session!

9:40am - 10:40am
Grand Ballroom

Panel Discussion

Executive Ideals and the Realities of Inclusion: How Male Leaders Drive Change

Industry executives and experts share research and insights on how industry employers are closing the gap.

Paige Kelly, Consultant, FMI Corp.
Eric Stenman, President, Balfour Beatty Buildings
Chad Mathes, Executive Vice President, Dragados USA

10:40am - 11:00am
Grand Ballroom Foyer

Refreshments, Networking, Exhibits

11:00am - Noon - Grand Ballroom

Panel Discussion

Token Advance or True Experience: Removing the Qualifier to Gain Parity

Some feel women have advanced simply because of gender or ethnicity—not because of experience. Are we focusing too much on being women and not enough on our accomplishments? Panelists will explore how employers can recognize women’s success without having to use the qualifier.

Panel:
Kristen Sylva, Marketing Manager, Autodesk
Cathy Orquiola, Vice President, PCL Construction
Lucy Villaneuva, Project Executive, DPR Construction
Julie Hyson, Senior Vice President, JLL

Noon - 1:30pm
Atrium

Luncheon

Optional Facilitated Conversation Tables:
Facilitators will host tables on 15-20 topics of interest

1:30pm – 2:25pm
Grand Ballroom and Pacific Concourse

Breakout Sessions (55 minutes)

TRACK A

Advancing Women in Construction Law
Experts say it's all about culture, but what exactly does that mean?

Businesses and law firms have been searching for the Rosetta Stone that unlocks the secret to advancing women lawyers, but only one conclusion is clear–there is none. Experts suggest a focus on organization culture and its impact on careers. This panel of women attorneys whose careers have taken differing paths will offer insights on the importance of "culture.”

Moderator: Tracy Russell-Galimore, Senior Counsel, Peckar & Abramson
Panel:
Mindy Gentile, Partner and Diversity & Inclusion Chair, P&A
Leslie O'Neal, Associate General Counsel, Brasfield & Gorrie
Other panelists to be announced

TRACK B

Why LGBTQ+ Issues Matter to Your Firm

Scott Blair, ENR Managing Editor

TRACK C

A former design firm president, now a leadership coach and HR expert, offers insight and direction on the four key factors that should drive your efforts to compete for and win those top leadership spots. Don’t miss this learning and sharing session!

Presenter:

Ted Lower, Former President EA Engineering, HR Consultant and Executive Coach

TRACK D

Women in the Workplace Research: Diversity as a Business Imperative

Hear an update new research from McKinsey & Co. and LeanIn.org. on how the construction industry is performing compared to other business sectors in gender parity at all professional and executive levels, impacts on business and decisive actions employers can take.

Presenter:

Shannon Peloquin, Partner, McKinsey & Co., San Francisco

2:30pm–3:25pm
Grand Ballroom and Pacific Concourse

Breakout Sessions

TRACK A

Join us for a discussion with four leaders of U.S. workforce development programs dedicated to creating opportunities for women in construction and related trades. Through these programs, and others, women now enter skilled trades apprenticeships ready for work, without feeling intimidated and with confidence and capability that shines through every project. Attendees will be inspired by a number of success stories and learn how to launch similar training programs.

Panel:
Kathleen Culhane, President, Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW)
Vicki O’Leary, General Organizer, Ironworkers International
Carol Cool, Co-Founder, Women in Skilled Trades (WIST)
Karen Dove, Executive Director, Apprenticeship & Non-Traditional Employment for Women (ANEW)

TRACK B

Learn about an approach that brings clarity to an otherwise cloaked path of career progression. In this session, you can develop a strategy to create an effective career path map and how to implement it.

Presenter:

Stephane McShane, Director, Maxim Consulting Group

TRACK C

This session addresses how to recruit, engage and motivate staff members when attention is fractured, millennials look for a new job the day they start their current one and women still seek parity. Presenters will discuss what makes a winning culture and how to measure engagement.

Moderator:
Nancy Whitworth, Vice President, McCown Gordon Construction

Panel:
Jennifer Miles, Superintendent, DPR Construction
Lindsay Broderick, Designer, ZFA Structural Engineers

TRACK D

Rolling the DICE: Industry’s New AEC Diversity and Inclusion Alliance

Learn more about getting involved in Diversity & Inclusion in Construction & Engineering (DICE), a new advocacy group formed by leading firms to boost industry D&I by sharing best practices and a one-voice approach. What’s the mission and game plan ahead?

Presenters:

Silvia Siqueira, Diversity & Inclusion, Hilti North America
Ashley Ruiz, Diversity, Inclusion and Community Relations Director, McKinstry
Carol Guerrero, Head of Diversity & Inclusion, Americas Lendlease

3:00 - 3:30 PM
Grand Ballroom Foyer

Networking, Refreshments & Exhibits

3:30 - 4:15 PM
Grand Ballroom

Panel Discussion

Project owners have a critical accountability for decisions, creative solutions, priority setting and framing the team environment. More women assuming the role are changing jobsite relationships. Panelists will share paths to their current jobs and offer insights on how others can thrive in this leadership role.

Moderator:
Ann Drummie, Vice President, Brailsford & Dunlavey

Panel:
Brig. Gen. Kim M. Colloton, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Commander, South Pacific Division
Brigett L. Reilly, Director Property Services, University Enterprises, Inc.
Halying Ellen Yang, Senior Project Manager, Newmark Knight Frank
Nancy Novak, Senior Vice President of Construction, Compass Datacenters

4:30pm - 5:15pm
Grand Ballroom

Keynote

Avery Bang, CEO, Bridges to Prosperity

Hear this dynamic young CEO of the non-profit Bridges to Prosperity share her personal journey of an engineer finding a passion to solve a global problem—rural isolation. Its industry program uilds pedestrian bridges that are critical links, and develops teambuilding and leadership skills for participants. B2P has positively impacted the lives of over 1 million people in 22 countries.

5:00pm - 6:00pm
Grand Ballroom Foyer

Reception, Networking & Exhibits

7:30 am - 8:30 am
Market Foyer
Grand Ballroom Foyer

Registration

Continental Breakfast & Exhibits

8:30 - 9:15 am
Grand Ballroom

Keynote Q&A

Looking Back—Looking Forward: How Far Have We Come?
Women Pioneers Share Their Stories

Women now in their firms’ C-suites compare and contrast career struggles and work environments from the 1970s and 80s to today in a frank conversation. What has changed? What hasn’t? How do we move ahead? What can the generations learn from each other?

Lorna Tardif, Partner, HKA Canada
Rebecca Llewelyn, President, Payco Specialties
Tracy Young, Founder and CEO, PlanGrid

9:15am - 10:15am
Grand Ballroom

Panel Discussion:

#Me-Too 2.0—Moving Past Harassment

ENR’s groundbreaking research on construction industry sex harassment and gender bias will be reviewed with insights and strategies from experts as well in how to confront and prevent jobsite steps and office issues. How are progressive employers taking that are beyond just compliance?

Monica Ballard, President, Parallax Education, workplace anti-harassment trainer
Diana Plue, Senior Associate, Sheats & Baily
Jane Frederick, President-Elect, American Institute of Architects

10:20am - 11:20 am
Grand Ballroom

Closing Keynote:

Breaking the Mold, How to Succeed When You Don't Fit In

This engineer-entrepreneur was stuck in a corporate job and bumping into non-technical barriers wherever she turned. What she did next will educate and inspire, founding two R&D firms to develop innovative management systems for complex capital projects. Olfa will share her strategy on what undermines women so they can create the career they want—out of thin air.

Olfa Hamdi, Founder, Concord Project Technologies and the non-profit Advanced Work Packaging Institute

Closing Remarks

Janice L. Tuchman, Editor-in-Chief, Engineering News Record
Melinda Gentile, Partner, Peckar & Abramson, P.C.