WiC Nanaimo with a branded wide flange beam cut during a Holdfast Metalworks tour.
Women helping women in construction By Cindy Chan
F
or a long time, construction was a boys’ club — but these women are changing the status quo. Women in Construction, also known as WiC, is a grassroots Vancouver Island network that supports and promotes female participation in in the construction industry, such as in engineering/design consultants, general contracting, project managers, subtrades and insurance. According to Cheryl Hartman, past chair of WiC Victoria and chief estimator for Brewis Electric Company Ltd., WiC was established by a woman named Katy Fairley about six years ago when she sent an email about starting a women’s group together. And the rest, as they say, is history. According to Leslie Myers, the 2018/19 WiC Victoria chair and associate and 64 Vancouver Island Construction Association 2019
professional interior designer for Number TEN Architectural Group, a networking group for women is especially needed because they are the minority in the industry. “It is getting better, but we are still the minority,” Myers says. “There can be a feeling of isolation and a lack of camaraderie, and WiC provides that. There’s a comfort that comes with being in a room with other women who are experiencing both the highs and lows of the industry we’re in.” “I’ve been in the trades for close to 30 years and I find it’s always nice to have a support group,” Hartman adds. WiC has two chapters in British Columbia — Victoria and Nanaimo. “We have group sessions for brainstorming about different ideas for
networking meetings,” Hartman says. “For example, some of these women are in an office setting all the time and they don’t get the opportunity to go to construction sites. It’s something they really enjoy.” One area WiC excels in is providing mentorship and leadership. In fact, Myers says Fairley inspired her in this very aspect. “I was at a talk where Katy Fairley talked about becoming a partner at Kinetic Construction. She said, ‘You need to voice what you want out of the company.’ That one little sentence gave me the drive to tell my own boss what I wanted, and now I’m an associate at Number TEN,” Myers says, adding that Fairley inspired her to do provide the same motivation, drive and support for other women.
