This week, March 6 – 12, Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont celebrates Women in Construction Week. According to the National Association of Women in Construction, women made up about 10 percent of the construction industry in 2018, that’s just over 1.1 million in the United States.
“I didn’t plan to go into construction at all,” said Haley Smith, construction manager for Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont. Smith earned a degree in political science with a minor in archaeology from the University of Massachusetts, but never imagined she would be overseeing construction operations.
Inspired by both her parents, Smith found joy in creating stuff at a young age when she helped her mother with her event planning service. It wasn’t until she graduated college that she would get her first taste of construction. Her love for shopping at Goodwill led her to apply for the Construction Project Manager position at Goodwill Industries of San Diego County.
“My boss at the time took a chance on me and I just excelled,” Smith explained. Although she had found her passion, she still had a learning curve with construction terminology.
In 2020, as construction came to a halt in certain regions due to COVID-19, Smith relocated to Utah for work and took a position with a general contractor. It was in this environment that she faced some of her toughest challenges – job site work culture, not being acknowledged by name because she was a woman and the pay inequities.
“It gets intimidating at times, I’m not going to lie. I want people to base their opinion of me off my integrity and my skill set that I’m giving in the moment, instead of my physical appearance,” she said.
In October 2021, the opportunity to return to Goodwill presented itself. This time in the Carolinas. In December 2021, she started her position as Construction Manager with Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont.
“A huge reason why I wanted to come back to Goodwill was because you have a sense of pride working for an organization that is on the right side of history and not only doing well by the planet by recycling, but also educating people and putting them in careers that they didn’t think were possible,” she emphasized.
A first of its kind pilot program is breaking the stigma of women in construction, while addressing the demand for skilled workers in the industry. SHENEW, a nickname given by its participants, was the first female cohort of the Renewable Energy and Efficiency Workforce (RENEW) Training Program delivered at the Goodwill Construction Skills Training Center in partnership with the City of Charlotte. In December 2021, the program graduated its first cohort, with many of the participants already working in the construction industry.
It’s programs like these that inspire Smith – she praises them and wants to see more! As a member of the National Association of Women in Construction, Smith is an advocate for change in the construction industry and while there has been a 68% increase in women-owned construction firms between 2014 and 2019, she knows the industry still has a way to go before women have equal representation.
“It’s not farfetched. Women can succeed in construction, and one day we may be the majority in construction and not the minority,” Smith said.
While Smith inspires women, she is inspired by so many before her. Seeing managers like Amy Jordan, vice president of business development and facilities at Goodwill, let’s her know that anything is attainable.
“Be confident in what you know, take a step back to listen and learn from senior peers like Jordan, who is someone that I look up to a ton, not only because she’s my VP, but because of her breadth of experience in the construction world.”
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