On March 8th, She Built This City was once again thrilled to host the second annual Change Maker’s Luncheon! With a focus on celebrating incredible women doing incredible things in our community, this event went off without a hitch thanks to our wonderful sponsors and attendees.
As all gathered in The Ruth by Beau Monde on International Women’s Day to enjoy an afternoon of mingling with others in the Construction industry, celebrating Change-Making women, and gratitude for all we’ve accomplished throughout SBTC’s history, a cheerful energy worked its way around the room. Attendees were able to peruse the silent auction, grab lunch catered by Roots Catering, and participate in interactive activities led by our students. One of these activities included drilling SBTC-themed nails into a board painted with our logo, creating a collaborative art piece that each participant was able to contribute to while also providing an opportunity for our students to teach others who may not be as familiar with tools how to use them!
On the same topic, a notable point regarding our participants – the vast majority of present companies were based in the Construction industry. With our focus being building diversity, equity, and inclusion in these spaces, the turnout and support from these businesses was and continues to be astounding. By showing up for events like this one and creating environments in which women feel comfortable and empowered, these Construction firms are aiding in our fight to build equitable workplaces across the region.
With help from our supporting businesses and sponsors like Lowes, Duke Energy, and so many more, we have been able to accomplish incredible things in SBTC’s two short years. From reaching over 500 youth in our first summer during the COVID pandemic, launching and completing several Pre-Apprenticeships, engaging hundreds through speaking and teaching opportunities, all the way to this Change Maker’s Luncheon, we have been on the move since the very start – and we aren’t slowing down anytime soon.
Congratulations Change Makers!
Finally, the time came to announce this year’s winners of the Change Maker awards! With the awards being presented by previous winners, and accompanied by a customized poem for each woman prepared and recited by keynote speaker Hannah Hasan, we celebrated these peer-nominated women and all of their hard work towards building equitable work environments for all. With this, we would like to, once again, acknowledge Stephane Brevard-Joyner, Ellie Rogalinski, and Toya Bailey – winners of the 2023 Change Maker awards!
As each woman took the stage to receive their award, Hannah recited their personal poem. Through this inspiring and creative recognition, we had the privilege of learning more about Stephane, “The Connector,” Ellie, “The Quiet Storm,” and Toya, “The Force”. Each of these women have worked extremely hard to make space, make heard, and create opportunities for other women and minorities in their field, and their admirable efforts are seen and greatly appreciated in each of their worlds. Congratulations to our awards winners, and thank you for lighting the way for the women in your space and for carving a path to positive change in our community each and every day!
Be The Change
With the event winding down following our awards ceremony, Executive Director LaToya Faustin finished out the afternoon with a moving call to action. Here, she discussed the astronomical cost of childcare, creating pathways towards career progression, and the “benefits cliff,” a fairly common happening in which women can sometimes find it more advantageous to stay in lower-paid, lower-opportunity positions due to the helpful benefits towards childcare and other necessities that they receive. However, when they earn raises or other advancements, those benefits disappear.
By putting the onus on employers in Construction to ensure that they are doing their part to remedy these issues, they are planting the seeds to changing entire families – not creating extra barriers.
“Have a conversation internally.” LaToya urged, “Our women are going to need that kind of help.” By assisting working mothers with childcare options, creating and maintaining career opportunities, and assessing the state of their benefits, Construction firms can open the door for many skilled tradeswomen to change their lives while caring for their families. As Hannah put it, “When one woman rises out of poverty, at least three to six people are coming with her.”
To state it once more – our call to action is to question your internal policies as Construction leaders, explore your benefits options, and make it worth the jump for these women.
Until Next Year!
Again, to all of our sponsors, staff, volunteers, and supporters – THANK YOU! We are forever grateful for each and every opportunity to spread our message and share our stories, and the endless support from those all around are not only enabling us to grow and continue our work, but also inspiring us to become unstoppable in our mission. Events like these are a beautiful and remarkable reminder that it is together we stand, and United We Spark!
