{"id":25919,"date":"2025-05-21T11:28:38","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T15:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/rinker\/?p=25919"},"modified":"2025-05-21T11:28:45","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T15:28:45","slug":"empowering-connections-at-the-second-annual-rwcn-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/rinker\/empowering-connections-at-the-second-annual-rwcn-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Empowering Connections at the Second Annual RWCN Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tuesday, February 11, 2025
By: Cara Jackson<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rinker Women\u2019s Construction Network<\/a> (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\u2019s theme was \u201cEmpowering Connections in the Construction Industry,\u201d and focused on connecting female construction students with experienced mentors and exploring opportunities in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This year, more than 60 M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Construction Management<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important for everyone to make connections, especially for the students. To be able to mentor them and allow them to ask questions,\u201d said Jennifer Taliaferro, the superintendent at DPR Construction in Jacksonville, Florida. \u201cI think it\u2019s really important for them also to realize that they\u2019re not alone. There are people out there they can look up to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s their voice, vision, and village,\u201d 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 \u201cyes and\u201d to cultivate collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to be empowering women,\u201d said Lacy. \u201cIt 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\u2013all the things they’re going to need to be able to succeed as the person next to them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to Lacy\u2019s 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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

King, vice president of business development at Verdex Construction; and Alexis Setteducato, senior human resources business partner at The Beck Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConfidence is key; show up like you want to be there, and people will perceive that,\u201d said Setteducato. Confidence was a recurring theme of the discussion, with the panelists encouraging students to embrace their strengths and show self-confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“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. \u201cBe absorbed; take in all the knowledge. That\u2019s where you get some of your best nuggets of information.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Events like these significantly influence students’ networks, providing them opportunities like finding a mentor or landing an internship. \u201cUltimately, these students are meeting potential employers,\u201d said Gonia. \u201cThey\u2019re building these connections, and if it’s not going to be an internship that a student’s trying to get, they\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s and Rinker’s support of female students, helping foster a supportive network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt means everything,\u201d said Daisy Tahiraj, a senior at Rinker. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRinker has made so many things possible for me,\u201d said Allison Drummond, another senior at Rinker, \u201cThere 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RWCN’s second annual summit provided attendees with valuable insights from professionals while networking and meeting other students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese events are a great way to make new connections and friends and help our industry become a little bit more diverse,\u201d said Setteducato.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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