Be Who You Are: Industry Women Speak Out

Three heavy-hitters anchored the NECA Women’s Peer Group Roundtable discussion yesterday —  Kristen McDonough, Director, Legislative Affairs, NECA; Rebecca Clark, Government Contracts Specialist, U.S. Dept. of Labor; and Alexandra Harrison, Executive Vice President – Marketing and Strategic Accounts, Ontility.

McDonough started the discussion off on an extremely positive note, talking about how, as a female lobbyist for the construction industry, she is often the only women in the room when speaking with Members of Congress. “I find it terrifically empowering,” McDonough said. “I know they’re going to listen to me because I’m different from what they’re used to.” McDonough backed up her observation with facts about how women control 80 percent of their household income and annually start up double the number of small businesses. “Basically, women are going to dream bigger,” she said.

McDonough challenged the women to get involved with advocacy, both through NECA’s political action and their communities. “If you’re not at the table, it means you don’t care,” she said. “This is the way you can make your voice heard on the issues that matter to you.”

NECA will host its annual Legislative Conference in May 2012, and McDonough encouraged more women to join the meeting. “Congressional leaders want to talk to more women, because they know the kind of change they can make happen. You’re only going to be intimidated once – the first time you go into meeting your legislator. After that, you can do anything.”

Becky Clark added her expertise and tough talk on Davis-Bacon enforcement as an enforcement agent for the U.S. Dept. of Labor. “If you want to know why we are so tough on Davis-Bacon now, it’s because the current administration believes in the philosophy that if you put a living wage in the hands of workers on a weekly basis, they will put that money back into the economy,” she said.

Clark also echoed a popular sentiment among electrical contractors: “When I get a company coming in to tell me they deserve an exclusion on a solar project, I ask them to the describe the work. And when they do, I tell them, “you know, that sounds a lot like electrical work. And that IS covered under Davis-Bacon. So you’re going to have to honor the prevailing wage.”

She asked that contractors assist DOL with the prevailing wage surveys. “This is where we get the information that makes enforcement possible. I spend a lot of my time explaining to contractors how it’s in their best interest to facilitate our surveys.”

Alexandra Harrison wrapped up the discussion with three primary points about women moving into executive management positions within the male-dominated construction industry. “If I had to break it down into three things – how I went from entry-level to EVP in six years – it’s accepting three things. One, life isn’t fair. Two, don’t shrug off compliments. Own what you’ve done well. And three, you have to show up. You have to work hard. You have to be at the table to take the risks to get ahead.”

The group also gave a standing ovation to Kathy Mazzarella, Executive Vice President and COO, Graybar, a panelist at last year’s first NWPG Roundtable. Mazzarella was recently announced as the successor to Graybar company president, and offered her famously frank counsel to the group: “Be who you are. It’s your best leadership strength.”