Biography

The National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) provides a forum in which women who work in the construction industry can meet and support each other. The majority of the members in the Cedar Rapids branch have professional careers in the industry. Their mission statement says, "NAWIC is an international organization of women employed in the construction industry which promotes that industry and supports advancement of women within it." The group's pledge is: "As material for the Construction for our building, I pledge the agility of my hands, the ability of my mind, and the integrity of my heart."

The Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Chapter was chartered on February 22, 1969 with four members. Officers and members of the chapter attend conventions and forums sponsored by NAWIC. In 1991, Cedar Rapids hosted the annual spring forum. Every year, the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Chapter hosts a golf outing and a "Little Reno Nite" to raise funding for scholarships for students, male and female, who are interested in pursuing careers in the construction industry. In 1997-98, the group awarded scholarships and painted a masonry training lab for the Masonry Training Program at Kirkwood Community College. While mainly a social networking organization, NAWIC also promotes entrepreneurship, takes tours of facilities, and participates in the Block Kids program. Block Kids is a national competition hosted by the NAWIC Education Foundation that promotes early interest in the construction industry in which grade school students are allowed to build whatever they want out of Legos and other miscellaneous items such as string and foil. The chapter has also been active in sponsoring the Kirkwood Community College's annual "Beyond Rubies: A Woman's Conference" for a number of years.

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