Extending The Ladder with Nancy Novak

Today, Nancy is joined by Amanda Brown and Meghan Thomas, senior construction managers at Compass Datacenters. Amanda and Meghan share their inspiring journeys into the construction industry, drawing from their non-traditional backgrounds and highlighting the value of transferable skills and adaptability in their roles. The conversation highlights the unique challenges and opportunities faced by women in the construction industry, emphasizing the value of soft skills, networking, and continuous personal and professional development. They address the significance of mentorship and advocacy for women in construction, articulating the impact of bias and the need to change the narrative around talent in the industry. The episode delves into the importance of building trust, fostering a positive work environment, and breaking down barriers to create more opportunities for women in the construction field.

In this episode, Nancy Novak, Chief Innovation Officer at Compass Datacenters, engages in a conversation with Amy Slagle Swanson, Former Managing Executive - North America Alliance Leader - EY at IBM.Amy, drawing from her 35 years of global experience, shares insights on empowering women in leadership roles. The discussion covers the progression of leadership, emphasizing the challenges and importance of self-clarity. Amy addresses stumbling blocks for women, urging them to overcome perfectionism and embrace imperfections in pursuing leadership roles. The power of vulnerability in leadership is explored, highlighting its role in fostering authenticity, connection, and innovation. The discussion stresses the significance of intention and personal connections, advocating for a balance between power and humility in leadership. Throughout, Amy's valuable insights offer a roadmap for women navigating leadership roles in various industries.Amy’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-slagle-swanson-5b09bbb/

Today, Nancy is joined by Kabri Lehrman-Schmid, Project Superintendent at HENSEL PHELPS.Kabri's journey from her early career to her current leadership role provides a captivating backdrop for our discussion. Her insights into leadership principles and strategies offer invaluable lessons for both aspiring and seasoned leaders.Throughout their conversation, they explore the multifaceted nature of leadership. Delving into topics such as effective communication, team dynamics, and the importance of fostering a positive work environment, Kabri's leadership philosophy emphasizes the significance of mentorship and continuous self-improvement.Kabri’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kabri-lehrman-schmid/

In this episode of Extending the Ladder, Nancy sits down with three incredible STEM students from San Diego State University.Lily Astete, Dani Hunt, and Juliet Luevanos are all navigating the world of STEM and come together today to discuss the barriers, challenges, and opportunities for women in STEM since graduation.In a round table-type episode, Nancy has the opportunity to ask this new generation of women in STEM their thoughts on the industry, as well as opportunities they see for the industry to change to become more inclusive and accepting of all groups.

In today's episode of Extending The Ladder by Compass Datacenters, Nancy Novak, podcast host and Chief Innovation Officer at Compass Datacenters, is joined by Brittany Marley, Vice President, Client Executive at STACK INFRASTRUCTURE. They dive deep into the role of women in sustainability, the need for collaboration, and the importance of measuring impacts.Marley and Novak discuss:The importance of women leaders in sustainability, and why their underrepresentation could mean missing out on critical solutions.How corporate sustainability hinges on collaboration, specific metrics, and reduction of emissions throughout the supply chain.The need for improving efficiency in data centers to reduce energy usage and carbon emissions, with a special focus on Microsoft's Azure platform.The complexities of solving carbon emissions and the necessity for collaboration at all governmental, corporate, and individual levels.The challenges in supporting digital transformation within energy constraints and the shared responsibility of corporations and consumers.The pivotal role of diversity, inclusion, and equity for success, specifically, the representation and involvement of women in decision-making processes for quality of life improvements and climate change mitigation.Despite the complexities of sustainability and digital transformation, Marley underscores the need for holistic approaches, collaboration, and the invaluable contribution of women's leadership.Brittany Marley, with her extensive experience in developing scalable infrastructure solutions for hyperscalers and cloud providers, has been instrumental in creating strategic partnerships with global clients. She prioritizes operational excellence for complex compute and edge networks, ensuring rapid delivery to meet market demand. Her expertise offers invaluable insights into the need for diversity and innovative thinking in tackling sustainability issues.

When you picture a stereotypical worker in the construction industry, for most individuals, the first image that probably comes to mind is likely a male. But females are becoming increasingly engaged in construction roles. Female-based apprenticeship programs such as the ANEW in Seattle, Building Pathways in Boston, and Tradeswomen Inc. are facilitating this, according to EHS Today.  Why is this growth occurring and what are organizations and businesses doing to catalyze this growth?  On today’s episode of Extending the Ladder by Compass Datacenters, podcast Host and Chief Innovation Officer of Compass Datacenters, Nancy Novak, speaks with Jennifer Sproul, President of Maryland Center for Construction Education and Innovation, Inc. (MCCEI), about what MCCEI and other companies are doing to boost the number of females in construction-based roles.   Novak and Sproul also discussed…  How Sproul entered the construction industry and the challenges she faced as a female in the field Recent growth of female involvement in the construction industry and why this is occurring  What Compass Datacenters is doing to promote female engagement in construction  Despite the small proportion of females in the construction industry, Sproul said there has been an upswing in numbers since 2018. “I’d say probably the first few years or so we were in the industry and out in the workforce we were stuck at about 9 percent, a little under 10 percent of the industry. And now, nationally, we’re at 14 percent. In fact, in Washington, D.C., women make up 17.6 percent.” She believes part of the reason for this upswing is education of women realizing construction opportunities.   Jennifer Sproul is President of Maryland Center for Construction Education and Innovation, Inc. Prior to her work at MCCEI, she held various marketing roles in a variety of companies and organizations. Sproul has also served as the National Professional Development & Education Committee Chair and the Northeast Region Director of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC). She holds an AAS in Construction Management from Catonsville Community College and a BA in Communications from Loyola University Maryland.  

Digital accessibility is a privilege, one that allows those who have unbridled access to the digital space. Host Nancy Novak, CIO of Compass Datacenters, met with Dr. Julie Albright, a highly decorated technology sociologist who currently serves as a board member for Infrastructure Masons, to talk about the need to mend the digital divide for digital equity and inclusion. As a woman who has spent her career looking at the digital transformation of society, Dr. Albright is well versed in understanding the digital divide. But what exactly is it? Dr. Albright described the divide as consisting of three levels. “I kind of think of it as three pillars,” she explained. “One, you might not have a digital device, be it a smart phone or a laptop or something like that. Second, you might not have digital connectivity, meaning internet at home sort of thing. And third, you might not have digital skills.” The digital divide can be any of the three pillars or a combination. Within the divide, women fall behind. “What the research shows, is that overall, globally, women are more likely to fall on the wrong side of the digital divide,” Dr. Albright said. While this divide can be broken down further into more specific socioeconomic factors like race and age, the COVID-19 pandemic put extra pressure on these categories and deepened the issue.  One example of this divide Dr. Albright recalled was witnessing an immigrant woman shed a tear over her inability to access her healthcare needs online during the pandemic. While this example is one of many, women are unequivocally affected by the deepening digital divide. Within the technology industry, there is a consistent lack of female voices. However, the more experiences and perspectives that can be added to a project, the more innovative. Unsurprisingly, the more women brought onto a project, the less blind spots in the project. “Bringing more women into developed technology isn’t simply a nice thing to do… it’s an innovation imperative. It actually brings more innovative results,” Dr. Albright highlighted.

Over the course of a year that’s seen arguable the largest change in workforce habits the world has ever seen, one thing has evolved alongside the shift to working from home, hybrid spaces, and more – the chase for the elusive work-life balance. On the first episode of Breaking Glass, hosted by Compass Data Centers’ Nancy Novak and brought to you by Compass and Infrastructure Masons, Novak sourced insights from Sandra Benson, Amazon Web Services Worldwide Head of Engineering, Construction and Real Estate to dive into the topic. “If you had asked me [about my idea of work-life balance] 20 years ago, I’d probably have a different answer than I do now,” Benson said. “For me, at this point in my career, I try to check in with myself on a Friday afternoon. ‘OK, how do I feel? Do I feel like I gave myself any personal time, or was I just on calls all the time?’” Benson said she does the same on Sunday evenings, working to map out a path toward striking a better balance. She also sung the praises of starting your day with mindfulness, even if it’s simply five minutes of meditation to center yourself before you go about your day. Novak and Benson also explored the difficulties women, particularly in the technology industry, can face in achieving balance – challenges that are largely brought about by inequity and the fast-paced nature of the industry, as a whole. Trusting your colleagues and teams can help everyone achieve a better work-life balance, as specific expertise and skills can help form a well-rounded, collective knowledge base and set of tools that keeps everyone from having to study up on every little detail.

In efforts to boost diversity and inclusion among the construction industry, Nancy Novak, the chief officer at Compass Datacenters, and Allison Scott, Director of Customer Experience and Industry Advocacy at Autodesk, discuss ways of standing out from the rest of the construction industry. Although Scott did not take the traditional route to construction management, she found value in the different ways she can communicate and tell stories through her work. She learned early on “there was always something bigger going on than what was written on the page.” Scott strives to take bigger and abstract concepts and translate them in a way that lets more people gain a true understanding of the situation women face in the construction industry. This was implemented later on in the way she has been able to reach and impact various communities and clients in said industry. Scott extends her wisdom to the youth population in the way she learned “you are more than just one thing”. Novak and Scott discuss the harsh reality of women still being underrepresented in the construction industry; ultimately there is more to a construction role than “muddy boots,” said Scott. Efforts to include and decrease stigmas are essential for producing strong leaders, as is making sure people feel safe and valuable, which is non-negotiable for companies.  Additionally, companies are making strides from the “see something, say something movement.” For people interested in getting started in the construction industry, Scott says doing research on companies locally and nationwide serves as a valuable start. “There’s innovation…overall it’s a tenant in most construction companies, because they recognize innovation isn’t just about technology, it’s about overall improving the way that we work.”

The Society of Women Engineers, or SWE, is a non-profit educational service organization composed of science and engineering students and graduate engineers. Nancy Novak spoke with three SWE members to learn more about their mission. Emily Peterson, Professional Relations Director, Noelle Kurien, President, and Megan Giltmier, Vice President, all from the Michigan State SWE chapter, sat down to discuss their passion for engineering and the importance of SWE.   Peterson formulated her love of mechanical engineering through Lego building as a youth. Kurien is a chemical engineering major concentrating in biomedical, which she believes will provide her with a breadth of opportunities upon graduation. Giltmier, an upcoming junior at MSU, is a chemical engineering major like Kurien. Giltmier credits her pursuit of a STEM career to her high school A.P. Bio teacher, who encouraged her to go into the STEM field. Her desires include working on climate change.   There are a lot of professional and personal benefits to being a member of SWE. Peterson says the organization helps connect students with other women working in STEM jobs, and on campus, SWE provides a reliable support network of women. “I think it’s really just that network of knowing familiar faces is something you can’t get in any organization on campus.”   Kurien joined SWE to fulfill several criteria she had when looking for a campus organization. “One was community service; one was creating a sense of belonging and finding new friends, and also professional development. SWE was one of those unique clubs that did all three of those for me.”   Giltmier says competition is one of the most significant challenges facing women in engineering. “Both competition with my male peers, feeling like I have to prove myself to them, but also in that same environment, it causes a lot more competition between my female peers, because there are fewer of us, and we’re all working on proving ourselves.”

Noelle Walsh, Corporate VP for Microsoft, joined Nancy Novak, Chief Innovation Officer for Compass Datacenters, to discuss how gender equality is progressing in the data center industry.  Walsh stated, “I think unconscious bias plays a role. I believe we are past the days of overt discrimination. But now it’s the microaggressions, the unconscious biases, and I think another level of learning will be needed to peel away the unconscious biases.”    Walsh believes that moving forward, hiring the best candidates across diverse facets will be an important focus for leadership figures. Learning to embrace one’s own differences and help others understand where they are coming from and embrace their own unconscious biases is also part of the growth process, according to Walsh. Networking is a crucial aspect of making the effort of getting to know colleagues.  What is Walsh’s advice specifically for women in the field? She said, “Don’t hold back, don’t be planning for the worst-case scenarios, or the best-case scenarios. Live your life and your career to the full. You’ll adapt as life sends you in different directions.”   Microsoft wants “every person to achieve more.” This involves embracing a growth mindset. “I think underpinning that is diversity and inclusion. That diversity of thought, diversity of gender, culture, ethnicities, industries, and experiences, stated Walsh. Microsoft has capitalized on this by holding trainings on ally ship and cultures while rewarding people not just on what they achieve, but how they achieve.   Continued progress in data center gender equality involves taking advantage of growth momentum and truly trying to make a difference. Walsh said that every small step can have a ripple effect.     For more podcasts and thought leadership on this topic, visit compassdatacenters.com and subscribe to the podcast.  

The pandemic has disproportionately affected women in the workplace. Activists nationwide are concerned for the progress that’s been made once statistics were released, showing that 2.4M women dropped out of the workforce within the first year of the pandemic totaling $800 billion of lost income. Additionally, 38% of women surveyed in the tech industry said they planned to leave their jobs in two years. Chair of IM Women, Heather Dooley, spoke to Nancy Novak on Breaking Glass on the surprising numbers, why it’s happening and how to reverse it. “All of the progress that we’ve been making in building up the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and building gender parity into our workforce seems to be moving backwards instead of forwards,”Dooley said.

Implicit bias is subconscious and not recognized by those impacted by it. So, how can companies confront and address it in the workplace? Taking on this topic today, Breaking Glass host Nancy Novak spoke with D&I expert Janese Murray. Murray is the President of Inclusion Impact Consulting, a firm that helps corporations create diverse workplaces where all people can thrive. Murray explained, “Building an inclusive environment is a corporate change, and that can take a long time to do. Implicit bias isn’t always visible. It’s not always as concrete as bringing in people with differences.” Companies and leaders build systems that don’t always align with all workers. However, Murray counseled that it’s “not about being wrong.” She continued, “People think they are making fully formed, objective decisions without recognizing the impact of the bias, such as making choices on behalf of employees without their feedback.” These reactions can be hardwired, so it’s about undoing that and practicing seeking out other perspectives. “Thinking through things instead of going to a place of shame and blame. It’s about the impact of the decision,” Murray added. In looking at When considering the roadblocks for implicit bias, are simply not letting those new and different voices be heard is a big one. “When that new person comes up with an idea and is met with ‘that’s not how we do it here,’ they hear they aren’t welcome, and they will leave,” Murray explained. Murray also provided other advice, “The best friend of bias is speed. Do you really need to make the decision now? What are the questions to ask to get more information? Leverage curiosity to engage in conversation and take the time to think about it.”

Women are excelling in a wide variety of roles across every industry in the world, moving up through the ranks to take on positions of leadership and making decisions that shape the course of our collective future. Those women in executive and other leadership roles, as well as those who are on the verge of these roles, are incredibly important to the future of the way we do business and of our society, at large. To discuss the importance of female leadership, host Nancy Novak, Chief Innovation Officer at Compass Datacenters, invited President and CEO of the National Institute of Building Sciences Lakisha Ann Woods, CAE, onto this episode of Breaking Glass. The two leaders are intimately familiar with leading in industries traditionally saturated with men at the highest levels, with Novak fulfilling critical duties for Compass and Woods having spent the entirety of her impressive career in building and construction. “When you look at the ratio of women to men in our industry, it’s astounding how few women there are, especially the ones who get to this high [of a level],” Novak said. Part of achieving a role of executive caliber or higher is having great mentors, and that’s especially true for women. Women need to build one another up, help one another succeed, and continue to pay it forward as they achieve their own goals to help future generations of powerful, impactful women follow in their footsteps. “I am very passionate about the topic of encouraging more women to join this space,” Woods said. “We are a critical, essential workforce. … It is so important for women to recognize their opportunities in the space, but also for other women to encourage and showcase those that are in leadership.”