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O P I N I O N
ElevateHer has been a call to action to work together, and the reaction to this inclusive approach has been powerful. Introducing the 2020 ElevateHer cohort
E levateHer came from Zweig Group’s commitment to Elevate the Industry. As a consultant to AEC firms across the country, it became apparent that there was a tremendous opportunity to better attract, engage, and retain every bright mind by working together to build companies that reflect our clients and communities. You really cannot build valuable enterprises without a brilliant, empowered workforce. We see ElevateHer as a call to action to work together, and the reaction to this inclusive approach has been powerful.
Jamie Claire Kiser
When we decided to launch the ElevateHer initiative, the first study our research team revisited was our 2018 Principals, Partners, and Owners Survey of AEC Firms . We had not previously divided the survey results based on the gender of the survey participants, and once we did, two data points confirmed that we were on the right track: First, every single woman in a principal role who responded to our survey shared that she has considered leaving the industry. Second, exactly 0 percent of women principals were given any portion of their ownership interest for free, compared to 33 percent of male principals who were gifted any portion of their ownership. This is staggering. While women are entering engineering programs at record rates, the data is clear that we – as a profession – must change, or else we will repeat the cycle of recruiting the next generation of women and retaining them until they feel the exhaustion that causes the gaps in diversity at the top of org charts that is the reality for our industry today.
We launched the concept of a cohort-style program at Zweig Group’s Elevate AEC event last year and took applications through the rest of 2019. We ended up with an inaugural cohort of 30 people from across the AEC industry with diversity in every respect: CEOs working alongside marketing directors; folks from Utah to California to Mississippi to New York, across gender, discipline, age, and every demographic category. We successfully assembled a diverse cohort of individuals all with the same passion to ensure equal opportunities and to confront the industry’s No. 1 challenge – recruitment and retention. With such a diverse cohort, every individual had their own perspective and motivation to take on this challenge. The initial meetings were held in Dallas and included open networking, presentations, inspirational talks, and a brainstorming project in smaller groups based on interest. Cohort members left this initial meeting
Christina Zweig Niehues
See JAMIE CLAIRE KISER & CHRISTINA ZWEIG NIEHUES, page 8
THE ZWEIG LETTER AUGU
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