Women’s History Month

Working in construction mangement for the last seven years, Cassidy Lynch, Senior Project Manager at Villa, has seen a positive trajectory of female representaiton in her field. As Cassidy explained to us, “It is so exciting to see more women making their way into the construction industry and taking on roles that have historically been held by men.”

Cassidy is focused on mentoring and providing guidance to this new generation of female project managers, saying, “If there is a construction process or a structural requirement that they don’t understand, I always encourage them to go the extra mile to become knowledgeable about it. At the end of the day, it’s knowledge combined with experience that makes the strongest project manager, so if you don’t know or don’t understand something, ask! After being in this industry for seven years I am still learning something new every day and continuously gaining experience with each project I complete; continuous on-the-job learning is not a uniquely female experience.”

She is excited about the future for women in construction, telling us, “As the world is changing to be more inclusive, construction is no exception, and there’s so much room for opportunity in this industry.”

Angelica Resendez, a member of our executive team, leads our Homeownership Services department here at Habitat Greater San Francisco. While she has been encouraged by the representation of women throughout her career in the non profit space, she is excited about the expansion of that representation. For her, the future of women in her field means recognizing individual’s intersectionality and ensuring representation for all women, as she said, “More women of color and black women in leadership roles leading organizations through a lens of equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging.”

Driving equity at the leadership level is key for Angelica, and her advise to those who may not see them selves represented is clear, “You belong! It can be intimidating to be the first or one of few to do something and yet, we have to take up space. If you’re feeling unsure, think about your mentors. Reach out to your network. Rely on community.”

Habitat GSF CEO, Maureen Sedonaen has witnessed improvements in the representation of women in nonprofits, and has been encouraged by the progress made. However, she points out the work that still needs to be done, “it used to be the larger the organization the less women CEO’s you would see. It was really rare to see women at the helm of organizations with over 5M annual budget. Thankfully, this has dramatically changed over the last 20 years. We still have more work to do, especially seeing women of color and other marginalized groups being represented in C-suites and we must continue to build these pipelines of leadership.”

To help drive representation, advocacy and giving others agency is key. As Maureen explained, “I have had several opportunities in my career to advocate and lead change putting young people and community residents at decision making tables in significant community leadership initiatives in Philanthropy, Civic Participation, fighting for social justice and equity in health.”