Welcome
Denise Dersin, Editorial Director, Professional Builder

Amanda Giuliano, Tradeswomen of Instagram

Panel Discussion: Bringing Women into the Trades
Moderator: Erika Taylor, Director of Content, Professional Remodeler

Amy James Neel, Training Director, Oregon Tradeswomen Inc.

Judy Mozen, President, Handcrafted Homes

​Rachel White, Project Manager and Performance Manager, Byggmeister Design Build​

Judy Dinelle, Building Ambassador, 84 Lumber; NAHB Professional Women in Building Chair

Welcome Reception/Dinner/Team Building

Breakfast

Introduction to the Conference

Lakisha Woods, Senior VP & Chief Marketing Officer, NAHB

Learning to Unlearn: Power Moves for Women in Business

Do you find yourself apologizing in your business communications when no error has been made? Do you feel threatened when receiving negative feedback from your customers or peers? The greater our ability to accept feedback, the greater our capacity to succeed. Effective leaders show confidence in their ideas and their knowledge. Come to learn and share effective strategies for success in business.

Jamie Rayne, Vice President, Bain Cochran Construction

Making a Difference

As an individual, how can I make a difference?  Whether it's a quiet internal question or loudly expressed, it can be difficult to know where to start to find the answer. Yet the direction one takes can substantially influence our lives and communities. As the youngest, and second female ever, elected President of her local Home Builders Association, and as VP of a woman-owned, multigenerational-operated construction firm where over half of the team is related, Jamie will offer personal anecdotes and lessons from mentors to help convey the importance of purposeful action in making a difference. She will also show how what she learned shaped her six-word memoir: Perspective is Everything. Live. Laugh. Love.

Break

Allison Iantosca, President, F.H. Perry Builder

The Power of Emotional Intelligence

Each year, companies lose millions of dollars in productivity because of hurt, scared, or disgruntled employees. Emotions are the threads of the human fabric; ignoring them in your staff compromises the strength of your business tapestry. Iantosca brings heartfelt and critical insight into the strategic implementation of Emotional Intelligence and Strengths-Based Focus into your day-to-day business interactions. Her philosophies focus on building individual confidence and a strong sense of team. As the owner of her own residential construction firm, she has stories and actionable advice to share about the ways emotional intelligence can positively change the outcome of otherwise difficult situations.

Ali Wolf, Director, Economic Research, Meyers Research

Connecting Data And Design: Attracting Millennial Homebuyers

Housing affordability is top of mind right now in the home building industry, especially as it relates to first-time buyers. Going forward, Millennials, the largest living generation, will be instrumental in overall housing demand. In an environment of rising costs and mortgage rates, innovation is essential in attracting these buyers. The experts at this interactive session will marry data with design and sprinkle in real-life action items to show different ways the industry can provide attainable housing for Millennials.

Lunch

KEYNOTE:
Ellen Leikind, Company Founder, PokerDivas

Workshop: Play the Hand You're Dealt and Make Your Own Luck

Learn everything you need to know in order to play to win—at poker and in business. Even if you've never played before, a keynote presentation and interactive workshop with the PokerDivas offers skills and strategies that can transfer from the poker table to the conference table. The game can teach you to read your competitors, negotiate with confidence, and calculate risk.

Break

Elitia Schwaderer, Director of Sales, Thrive Homes

Diversity as a Competitive Advantage

As a minority woman in the home building industry, Elitia has encountered many types of discrimination, but after going to work for a builder with an innovative and principled company culture, she has found success beyond all of her expectations. Elitia will share how her experiences—good and not so good—have taught her how to challenge assumptions, be less anxious and more assertive, solicit constructive criticism and feedback, and to use emotion proactively rather than reactively, helping her to become a more effective leader.

Dawn Duhamel, Director of Sales and Marketing, Possibilities for Design

Grace Under Fire

When you live your entire life pushing for, driving toward, and delivering on high expectations, what happens when someone decides it isn't enough? When someone "lets you go" when you wanted to stay? Join Dawn as she shares her story of introspection and redemption in the face of unexpected (or was it?) change.

Pierrette Tierney, VP Business Development, Magleby Construction

Breaking the Mold…Finding Talent in Unexpected Places

While the field labor shortage continues to get a lot of attention, finding strong talent to fill the ranks in construction extends across the entire industry. Pierrette's background in journalism gave her an interesting perspective when transitioning to the construction industry and paved the way for her to explore recruiting in unexpected places. Seeking diversity of talent has helped her create top performing home building teams across the Southwest, California, and now the Mountain West. She will explore how we can each use our unique perspectives to encourage untapped resources to join our forces.

Reception/Dinner
Woman of the Year Award

Breakfast

Barbara J. Jackson, PhD, Director, Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management, Univ. of Denver

Why Women, Why Now?

The construction industry is in the midst of a major transformation and at the heart of that transformation is leadership. The leadership traits, skills, and attributes needed today are significantly different from those once thought effective in the past. In this session, you will learn why women, more than ever before, are best qualified to lead teams, projects, companies, and organizations into the future. And why so many well intended "women leadership" initiatives fail. You will be introduced to the notion of gender intelligence and learn how to leverage it to take advantage of the opportunities before you.

Five Minutes of Wisdom: Hear From Your Peers

In this special session, we hear from a select group of conference attendees, each of them experts in a specific area of the construction industry. These quick talks are filled with actionable, inspiring ideas with broad application for your business.

Conference Adjourns