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Lisa Frisbie said she was a bit naive about the gender gap in construction before she joined the industry. She noticed the disparity immediately.
“I would go to a golf tournament, there would be 200 men and three women,” said Frisbie, vice president of member services for the Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts.
But what most surprised Frisbie, then director of marketing and communications, was discovering that women in construction didn’t feel like they had each other’s backs.
“For me, this just hit home. How can this be? How is this possible?” Frisbie said.
In response, she brought together women of varying experience levels to form the chapter’s Women in Construction Building Committee to better figure out how to support them. After a decade of providing education, outreach and resources to women in construction, the group recently created a mentorship program.
Guidance through tutorials
The Build Her Mentorship program, which runs from September to next June, paired 30 women, grouped by shared experiences such as being women of color or members of the LGBTQ+ community, Frisbie said.
From there, program organizers encouraged mentors and tutors to meet separately before the committee held an event to train and guide them over the coming months.
Lisa Frisbie
Authorization granted by AGC MA
“We held a workshop for both tutors and mentors. And we’ve created this framework for them to follow. So they have the tools and the resources they need to run a very organized, very thoughtful program throughout the year,” Frisbie said.
With registrations in January and spring, the committee will try to ensure that participants continue to make the most of their experience.
Kimberly Joyce, a senior project manager at contractor Colantonio in Holliston, Mass., said she joined the program as a mentor when she received an email and thought “Why not?”
Joyce, a 36-year industry veteran, said the treatment of women in construction is “radically different” to when she started.
Kimberly Joyce
Permission granted by Colantonio
“Most supers don’t stop now that their prime minister is a woman. Back in the day nobody listened to anything I said,” Joyce told Construction Dive. “It didn’t phase me at first because I didn’t really think about it, and all of a sudden I was like, ‘Hey, now I get it.’ But it’s definitely a lot more inclusive, a lot more welcoming.”
Rita Donayre Iturri, founder and president of Boston-based engineering services firm General Professional Services, as well as Joyce’s mentee, said she joined the Build Her Mentorship program because she needed someone with more experience to turn to professional and personal advice.
“I have learned so far that I can add significant value to the construction sector by bringing together different cultures and different methods that I learned in my professional experience in Peru, Spain and the USA, and with the guidance of my mentor we are working . to improve some industry methods”, said Donayre Iturri.
Although the mentoring program is still in its infancy, Joyce said she hopes it will help them grow to feel more comfortable and know they have support.
“I think if these young people feel comfortable and safe, that will naturally rub off on other people and be passed on to younger people,” Joyce said.
