Tuesday, February 11, 2025
By: Cara Jackson
The Rinker Women’s Construction Network (RWCN) held its Second Annual Summit last Thursday at the lovely Bonne et Belle in Gainesville. Fostering an evening of mentorship, connection and career advice tailored to women in construction, this year’s theme was “Empowering Connections in the Construction Industry,” and focused on connecting female construction students with experienced mentors and exploring opportunities in the field.
This year, more than 60 M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Construction Management students attended the event, demonstrating the growing number of female students within the construction industry. RWCN strives to create a supportive community for women and connect them to resources and events, such as its annual summit, which provides networking and professional development.
Founded in 2022, RWCN is a grassroots initiative that connects female students with the construction alumni community. The organization aims to empower, mentor, support, and connect Rinker women from the industry’s past, present, and future.
“It’s important for everyone to make connections, especially for the students. To be able to mentor them and allow them to ask questions,” said Jennifer Taliaferro, the superintendent at DPR Construction in Jacksonville, Florida. “I think it’s really important for them also to realize that they’re not alone. There are people out there they can look up to.”
RWCN featured Jennifer Lacy, the lean practice leader at Robins & Morton, as the keynote speaker. Lacy discussed the significance of our words and the importance of shaping our goals and community.
“It’s their voice, vision, and village,” said Lacy. These three words were central themes of her presentation, which discussed how students can leverage them to build successful careers. Lacy emphasized the importance of effective communication and positive speech, accentuating phrases such as “yes and” to cultivate collaboration.
“We need to be empowering women,” said Lacy. “It doesn’t matter what room they’re in, what seat they have, what role they have that they are going in with just as much power, authority, autonomy–all the things they’re going to need to be able to succeed as the person next to them.”
In addition to Lacy’s keynote, the summit held a panel discussion with four influential women in construction: Melissa Thacker, senior project manager for Balfour Beatty Construction; Kaitlin Gonia, talent acquisition specialist at Robins & Morton; Lisa
King, vice president of business development at Verdex Construction; and Alexis Setteducato, senior human resources business partner at The Beck Group.
The panel focused on key aspects of career development, including networking strategies, maintaining relationships and career advancement. The panelists discussed their experiences in the field and offered advice for students to thrive in the industry.
“Confidence is key; show up like you want to be there, and people will perceive that,” said Setteducato. Confidence was a recurring theme of the discussion, with the panelists encouraging students to embrace their strengths and show self-confidence.
“Nothing happens in this industry by chance. It’s all about hard-working relationships. Use your connections every day to get things done,” said Thacker. “Be absorbed; take in all the knowledge. That’s where you get some of your best nuggets of information.”
Events like these significantly influence students’ networks, providing them opportunities like finding a mentor or landing an internship. “Ultimately, these students are meeting potential employers,” said Gonia. “They’re building these connections, and if it’s not going to be an internship that a student’s trying to get, they’re building that relationship with somebody that could be a mentor. These relationships that they’re building now are going to carry with them throughout their entire career.”
Students who attended the event shared how Rinker’s support of the community has positively impacted them. The impact of the RWCN community was evident among the attendees, who praised the RWCN’s and Rinker’s support of female students, helping foster a supportive network.
“It means everything,” said Daisy Tahiraj, a senior at Rinker. “I think it’s such an important part of Rinker, especially being a woman; there’s not that many women in the field, so for us to be able to come together for something like this, it honestly helps to bridge the connections.”
“Rinker has made so many things possible for me,” said Allison Drummond, another senior at Rinker, “There are so many avenues that I’ve been able to find in this school, just like with connecting with women, especially since it is a male-dominated field, I just feel supported and encouraged with all the help.”
RWCN’s second annual summit provided attendees with valuable insights from professionals while networking and meeting other students.
“These events are a great way to make new connections and friends and help our industry become a little bit more diverse,” said Setteducato.
