Polished Pebbles: Building Dreams and Breaking Barriers

A sea of bright pink represented women’s growing footprint in the construction industry during Polished Pebbles’ “Pink Hard Hat: Building Dreams and Breaking Barriers” conference at the ComEd training center on the city’s Southwest Side in May.

Lakeside Alliance was a proud sponsor of the inaugural event hosted by Polished Pebbles, a nonprofit that provides career readiness and mentorship for school-aged girls. The three-day event attracted 300 6th through 12th graders from across Chicagoland, who each received a pink hard hat and T-shirt, as well as the chance to mix and set their own miniature concrete figurine to take home as a souvenir.

Participants were treated to hands-on demonstrations, including in electrical, concrete and drone technology, and got to hear from industry-leading women in various roles, including project managers, engineers, superintendents and business owners like Estefania Roa, president of LB Hall Enterprises, a fireproofing company.

“The world doesn’t need more perfect girls. The world needs more fearless ones,” Roa told attendees during the opening session.

Women have made notable gains in the industry in recent years, representing 11.5 percent of the construction industry workforce, according to the latest U.S. Census data, but there is still a long way to go.

“It’s important to invest in girls when we’re looking at closing the workforce development gap in the construction industry,” said Polished Pebbles founder Kelly Fair. “We’ve tried to find fun ways to help girls see a representation of themselves through some of our guest speakers and get opportunities to touch it, to feel it. It’s a real hands-on opportunity.”

Rose, an 8th grader from Harvey, was introduced to Polished Pebbles by her 5th grade teacher and has been hooked ever since, especially as she considers a career as an architect. “I want to explore construction to really make sure I want to do architecture,” she said. “I don’t want to spend my years doing something I end up not wanting to do.”

Lakeside Alliance principal Kelly Powers Baria shared her pathway in the industry during a panel discussion sponsored by the Federation of Women Contractors. “You have to be ready to learn all the different things that go into the type of business you have,” she said. “For instance, understanding the money side and how a project comes together in the field. I spent time on business development and writing proposals. To be able to successfully run the company, you don’t have to be great at all those things but know enough to make sure your company is successful in those areas. There is no right or wrong way to run a business. Just be willing to put in the work.”

During the panel, students were presented with common business challenges and asked how they would resolve them before the panelists weighed in. Powers Baria also shared a personal story about overcoming her fear of talking to adults as a kid and encouraged the girls to trust the process.

“My dad used to have me make calls to find out things. Like ‘Can you call the bank to get more checks?’ He always said to me,‘The worst thing that can happen is they say no. No won’t kill you,’” she said. “He pushed me out of my comfort zone to let me know it’s OK. Most of the time, those people have your best interest at heart.”

Each day, the conference concluded with a career fair. Consolidated Flooring, a Lakeside Alliance subcontractor, sent team members to the event to help introduce students to opportunities in their sector. Exposing young people, particularly girls, to careers in construction is one of the ways Consolidated has honored its pledge to make transformative commitments through their work on the Obama Presidential Center project.

“We were just all saying that we wish we did something like this in grammar school,” said Consolidated Flooring’s Classie Moore. “With the construction industry you think of outside, hard work, hard hats, and there’s so much more to the industry.”

Her colleague, Monica Kopacz, chimed in, “It's really important for women and girls to get into this industry because there aren't very many of us, and it actually is very rewarding and just a really fun experience to be working somewhere where I never really thought I would have the opportunity.”

By the end of Day One, Morghan, a 6th grader at Dunne STEM Academy, summed up her key takeaway: “You can do anything you put your mind to. If you focus on it, you can accomplish it.”