Humans of Habitat: Meet Our Women In Construction!

Humans of Habitat: Meet Our Women In Construction!

With our Spring 2022 Women Build initiative wrapping up this past week, we want to feature the awesome women in construction at our organization. According to the National Association of Women in Construction, women account for 9.9% of the construction industry in this country. Here at Richmond Metro Habitat, women make up half of our construction team in a variety of roles from administrative work to direct site supervisors.

All of these wonderful women are pictured above, clockwise starting at the top left.

Ann – Ann has worked at Richmond Metro Habitat for Humanity since February of 2011, merging into various roles including full time construction around 2015. As Construction Project Manager she is a behind the scenes team member, assisting with acquisition of properties, bid and award processes, all the way through the process to submitting required reports when builds are finished. 

Ann also had the opportunity to be on the RMHFH team that went to Cambodia in 2017! They were able to build a home for a deserving family across the world and see how our Mission plays out there. 

Ann wanted to include her fabulous support system in the office with Americorps VISTA Macie, part-time support Carlie Muessig, and the entire construction crew in the field. She also mentioned they are great to work with and have helped her tremendously as our team attempts to serve more and more families. 

In her spare time, Ann enjoys spending time with her family, including her 2 granddaughters, and watching and playing all kinds of sports, especially tennis!

Becky – Becky assists in every aspect of critical home repairs: assessing homes, preparing scopes and bids, tracking costs and budgets, and submitting the proper documentation to the jurisdictions. She says that it’s been wonderful to see the number of women in the field grow substantially over the last 30 years. As with everything, construction has its challenges, but she has loved it!  She personally enjoys the aspect of bringing things to life from plans or making old things new again. And to be able to do this for others by working for Habitat has been doubly rewarding for her.

Outside of Habitat, she enjoys reading, volunteering, scrapbooking, camping, and any time she gets to travel with her husband and two college aged boys!

Laura – Laura is one of our new Construction Site Supervisors as of this spring. She came to Habitat with a few years of general contracting experience, eager to try her hand at supervision, and was pleased to be offered the opportunity to work directly with volunteers. 

Outside of construction she loves trail running, working out, yoga, playing in the river and many other outdoor activities. 

Jessie – Jessie is on the construction team at Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity, after beginning her involvement as a volunteer in 2021. She’s also an avid reader, volleyball player, and VMFA-goer. She loves working on houses with volunteers because it means every day involves both growing in her own skills/knowledge and helping others learn what they’re capable of. 

Being a woman in construction presents its own challenges, like being a woman in any typically man-dominated environment (also wouldn’t mind being 6’2 for this job) but it’s been exciting to be a part of the women’s builds. She says that it’s great to work with people who might begin a day thinking they “need to stick to the easy jobs” and help them pick up skills that make them feel empowered and capable. It’s also great to be around the many people who arrive at the build site with immense experience under their belts that are able to share it with everyone else.

Zoey – Zoey is an AmeriCorps National member who has recently started work with Habitat for Humanity as a Construction Crew Leader. She works alongside site supervisors and Habitat volunteers on builds across the city. As a long time Richmond resident she is grateful to be working within her community to create equitable and affordable living opportunities.

Zoey’s background includes custom machinery builds and studies in urban planning. She applies the skills she has on build sites and is eager to learn more from her experienced supervisors!

Some of her hobbies include travel, hiking, camping, and small scale furniture builds.

Macie – Macie is an AmeriCorps VISTA on the construction team – she works in the planning and permitting stages so that Habitat can be able to build more homes! Outside of work she likes to take long river walks and learn how to roller skate. Macie has learned that it is unique to be a woman in construction and enjoys the opportunity to challenge stereotypes. She believes that anyone with a passion for improving communities and the built environment can contribute great work to this field.