Dr. Gretchen Gagel
Founder and CEO
I created this global institute not to replace the work of the many people and organizations who are working to increase the number and success of women in construction and related fields such as engineering, energy, and mining. Rather we want to support greater collaboration and funding to support strategies that are working. Our goal is to double the number of women in construction over the next 10 years.
Read MoreThe Global Challenge
The US construction industry faces a labor shortfall of approximately 750,000 workers and countries throughout the world face similar construction labor shortages such as Australia’s 290,000 shortfall. Attracting, developing, and retaining more women in construction is one critical strategy for ensuring a sustainable industry capable of supporting the capital asset and infrastructure needs of our society. In the US, women comprise approximately 4% of the trade workers and 10-12% of the construction industry workforce. While efforts to attract, develop, and retain women in the construction industry are gaining momentum, these efforts are at times fragmented and underfunded, and there is no global source of data on women in construction to track progress.
Read the Study
Our Purpose
Our purpose is to accelerate the rate of women entering and remaining in the construction industry with a goal of parity in the industry. While the initial focus will be the US and Australia, we envision this to be a global effort. We believe a need exists for a global organization to:
Be the global source of data on women in construction.
Be a global clearinghouse for research on the proven strategies and tactics for attracting, developing, and retaining women in construction
Be a convenor of industry stakeholders, including unions, associations, employers, educators, and policy makers, to identify existing and new strategies and tactics to attract, develop, and retain women in construction.
Be a source of effective program evaluation to ensure funded is directed to the strategies and tactics most capable of moving the needle on women in our industry.
Be a global clearinghouse for research on the proven strategies and tactics for attracting, developing, and retaining women in construction
Check out our global research study on the status of women in construction here!!
Crissy Ingram
CEO, the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC).
“Women Thriving in Construction – A Global Institute is a much-needed entity within our industry. While NAWIC and other like-minded organizations are effective in helping more women succeed in construction, more collaboration and funding is necessary to achieve the outcomes we all desire.”
Crissy Ingram
CEO, the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC).
“Women Thriving in Construction – A Global Institute is a much-needed entity within our industry. While NAWIC and other like-minded organizations are effective in helping more women succeed in construction, more collaboration and funding is necessary to achieve the outcomes we all desire.”
Meet Our Board
Leslie Mitchell
(Chair)is retired President of 1stBank Cherry Creek, former Chair of the Emily Griffith Foundation, the oldest trade school in the US, and serves on several additional boards including the Denver Audit Committee. Leslie is passionate about helping women thrive and the opportunity to partner with Gretchen on the formation of this Institute.
Jonathan Resnick
(Director, Chair of Finance/Audit)is the Controller of Arc Thrift Stores and also shares a passion for helping women succeed. Jonathan and Gretchen first worked together when Gretchen was CEO/President of The Women’s Foundation of Colorado and Jonathan served as the organization’s Chief Financial Officer.
Roweena Naidoo
(Director, Chair of Programs Committee)is currently Vice President of Policy and Community Initiatives at Mile High United Way and a leading expert on program creation and evaluation. Roweena’s experience creating Blossom, a nonprofit to empower high-school girls, informs the work of creating this Institute.
Denise Burgess
(Director)is CEO of Burgess Services, a Board member of the Colorado School of Mines, and a member of the National Academy of Construction. Denise was named one of the 25 most powerful African American women in the US and her work in real estate development and construction management brings invaluable industry expertise to the Board.
