Meredith Makes History

September 12 was a momentous day for Tacoma Habitat, as Meredith Beck was promoted to become our first female Construction Site Supervisor. Not only is Meredith the first for Pierce County, it seems like she may be the first female Habitat for Humanity Construction Site Supervisor in the state.

Meredith shared, “Women only make up 11% of the workforce in private construction. Being a woman in construction is difficult. At Habitat, we have the opportunity and environment to be better. I am incredibly proud to be the first female Construction Site Supervisor at Tacoma Habitat. It’s very surreal to have reached this milestone after three years of hard work.”

Meredith began working at Tacoma Habitat in 2021 as an AmeriCorps member, serving in construction. When she expressed interest in pursuing construction as a career, Construction Projects Manager Nick Jackson launched an apprenticeship program, with the objective of mentoring individuals with an understanding of Habitat’s volunteer-centric mindset to a full cadre of construction skills. Jackson noted that Meredith had showed “mettle on site,” which inspired him to create the curriculum.

Throughout the apprenticeship program, Meredith’s leadership has positively impacted volunteerism. In a recent month, more volunteer surveys were returned than ever, and many of the comments pointed directly to Meredith’s strengths:

• Meredith’s knowledge of the entire project was spectacular. Her confidence and leadership on the tasks at hand was refreshing to me. Glad to have had Meredith as our leader. (Bruce D., University Place Presbyterian Church)
• Meredith was approachable and patient with us boneheads that don’t know construction. (Greg O., The Greg Lending Team)
• Meredith is amazing and I learned so much from her! I don’t know how she is able to manage so many groups of completely unskilled volunteers, but she does it with grace, humor, and a lot of knowledge. (Ashley G., Lee & Associates)
• It was organized, fun, and we all felt a sense of pride and accomplishment. Meredith is GEM and an amazing leader. (Amy S., Sound Credit Union)

As Meredith looks ahead, she says, “One of the things I’m most excited for in my new position is continuing to teach other young women construction.”

Right on Meredith’s heels was the promotion of Tacoma Habitat’s second female Construction Site Supervisor, Jessica Risdon, who completed her apprenticeship two weeks later. Jessica also served as an AmeriCorps member with Tacoma Habitat and, after a time in architecture, decided she too might prefer leading on the construction site. These two promotions mean that two-thirds of Tacoma Habitat’s new construction management team is female.