Blog | Mar 13, 2023
Highlighting Women of HITT
March is a month full of celebrations of women and their contributions including International Women’s Day, Women in Construction Week, and Women’s History Month. Did you know that 14% of the construction industry is made up of women? At HITT, our team is comprised of nearly double the industry average, and we’re proud of the strides we’re making to bring more women into the construction field and to create more diverse workplaces. With nearly 300 female team members at HITT comprising of leadership roles on- and off-site, we’re proud to chip away at the construction glass ceiling while recognizing that we still have room to grow. One way we’ve made progress this year was by launching a companywide salary study and equity pay band alignment. This ensured fair and equitable compensation across gender and race throughout the firm.
In March, industry members across the country come together to celebrate Women in Construction Week, a time to highlight all the great initiatives and work of women within the industry and bring to light the countless career opportunities available for women. Get to know some of the women of HITT who are making a difference on and off their jobsites every day.
Assistant Project Manager Julia Seppala: Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, Julia is currently working on the American Tobacco Campus, a former tobacco factory that is being converted into mixed-use space including shops and an office space. Julia shares her favorite part about being a woman in construction is helping people’s visions become reality and being part of a team that’s bigger than herself. We can’t wait to see how Julia continues to shape the built environment as the next generation of female builders at HITT.
Global Consulting Services Headquarters Build-Out Team: 40+ empowered women are working together to build a global consulting services company’s Washington, DC area headquarters. On-site Project Manager Dana Potter (pictured center left) shares, “I felt so inspired walking this jobsite alongside four other HITT women and thought back to a time 15 years ago when I started in construction, and I was usually the only woman on-site. Now, I am so proud to be part of a job that has more than 40 women contributing to its success from all departments like marketing, sustainability, estimating, project management, subcontracting partners like electricians and painters, the design team, and even our client!”
(Pictured here: Superintendent Elizabeth McElhinney, Project Manager Dana Potter, Project Manager Victoria Myers, and Assistant Project Manager Erin Brockman)
Project Executive Triloka Shanbhag: As a leader on our mission critical technology team, she empowers her team to be vulnerable to grow, learn, and become leaders themselves. Triloka believes that the most rewarding part of her job is bringing together diverse teams to build on each other’s strengths and diversity of thought toward common goals. Off the jobsite, Triloka serves as the chair of our Women of HITT employee resource group, an internal organization that provides a space to encourage, advocate, educate, and support women. She connects with the 150+ members in a variety of site operations, project management, and corporate resources roles nationwide, bringing together those who support women at HITT, helping to improve and develop new skills, and growing budding female construction leaders. We’re also proud to share that Trikoka was recently named a Construction Dive 2023 Construction Champions: Up-And-Coming Leader!
Project Manager Caitlin Murphy: With more than six years in the construction industry, Project Manager and new mom Caitlin Murphy has travelled across the country with HITT and worked on numerous projects from Quincy, Washington, to most recently Richmond, Virginia. Caitlin shares, “Coming from a background in business, I really value the relationships and partnerships I’ve gained at HITT. Starting as a project engineer on-site, I loved working hand-in-hand with our subcontractors daily. My favorite part of the job was having access to all our subject matter experts on-site and being able to ask a million questions of the superintendents and foremen. It led to some great, lasting subcontractor relationships and allowed me to gain a lot of knowledge about the construction industry. Now that I’m a project manager, I still learn something new every day from our subcontractor partners, and I now have the opportunity to help teach some of our less experienced team members. I love serving as a mentor to assistant project managers with their careers and working in partnership with them towards a successful project.”
This month and always, we encourage women to explore construction as a career path! Check out our open career opportunities at www.hitt.com/careers