Next week, a recently formed organization, will hold its inaugural Women in Construction Week Celebration Luncheon in Fort Myers.<\/p>\n
The event, set for March 3 at Taberna Ole\u2019 Restaurant, is being organized by Southwest Florida Women in Construction, a professional organization.<\/p>\n
SWFL WIC was founded in mid-2025 by Alejandra Lopez and includes tradeswomen, business owners, project managers, designers, architects, engineers, developers, and allied professionals shaping the region\u2019s construction.<\/p>\n
Laura Aldana, SWFL WIC outreach director and marketing, said Lopez is the CEO of Office Pro Installation, Inc., a business that specializes in office furniture installation, reconfiguration, and relocation as well as glass partitions. <\/p>\n
She said at one specific meeting at a job site with some of her crew, Lopez stepped off to the side to tie her shoe and, when she was finished, everyone had gotten in the golf cart and left.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe meeting continued and they left her behind,\u201d Aldana said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0The question \u2014 why do these things happen \u2014 began in Lopez\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cShe really didn\u2019t have too many other women in her profession that she could check in with and have a conversation with and navigate the feelings that came from being overlooked and ignored in the job site,\u201d she said. \u201cIn that particular scenario, they didn\u2019t realize she is the CEO.\u201d<\/p>\n
That moment led to Lopez wanting to create a place for women to foster each other\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cShe decided she wanted to form a group,\u201d Aldana said. \u201cInitially she thought she was going to be at a restaurant talking to a few women over lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0The first event took place in August with 60 people in attendance. It showed that there was not organization access for women in construction and overlapping industries.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThe women in construction often times have to deal with a male-driven (industry). It tends to even be harder sometimes for the women and sometimes women feel like they have to play a certain role to navigate the space,\u201d Aldana said. \u201cAlejandra created an ecosystem to help women understand and be OK with themselves and know they can be a woman, be in construction, be strong and successful and be cute and feminine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0SWFL WIC was able to create a compatible group of people who are working on their goals, as well as leveling up their profession while learning from each other and mentoring other women.<\/p>\n
There currently are 840 members through their private Facebook page, and close to 500 through LinkedIn. The leadership circle, a group of women who decided to take the next step in the membership tier, is also growing.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s an ecosystem of women helping women because they collaborate over competition,\u201d Aldana said. \u201cEven though there are so many women that can potentially do the same thing in the group, they all work differently and have different reach and different levels in their careers and focus on different things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0It\u2019s a place for education, community, and mentorship.<\/p>\n
And the coalition is working,<\/p>\n
Marilyn Santiago is a mentor for organization members.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have nothing but love and respect for them. They have been amazing of putting together an organization that is not like a social club \u2014 it\u2019s empowerment for construction businesswomen that want to get better in their trade,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a professional network that creates connections and makes things happen within one another. The results have been amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Santiago, who owns Creative Architectural Resin Products, said she has seen connections being made, partnerships and coordination among businesses blossoming, which fills her heart with joy.<\/p>\n
For National Women in Construction week the organization has many events planned. <\/p>\n
One of those events, the inaugural Women in Construction Week Celebration Luncheon, is set for 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 3, at Taberna Ole\u2019 Restaurant, 12377 S. Cleveland Ave., Fort Myers.<\/p>\n
Tickets for the luncheon are $50 and can be purchased at\u00a0www.swflwomeninconstruction.com.<\/p>\n
The program will include opening remarks and a formal proclamation by Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson, as well as closing remarks by Cape Coral Mayor John Gunter. There will also be a recognition moment honoring women in construction, celebrating leadership, service and professional impact within the region, a check presentation to Dress for Success for the She Build\u2019s Wealth education series.<\/p>\n
The speaker is remarkable, Santiago said.<\/p>\n
Ivette Galarza, who is a general contractor, president of Her Homes, and Board Member of Habitat for Humanity, will highlight women-led construction, leadership, and community centered development.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is one of the most eloquent people I have ever met,\u201d Santiago said.<\/p>\n
Other events include a class for the participants to refresh their knowledge of reading blueprints, a tour of Santiago\u2019s factory and a hard hat happy hour to celebrate Women\u2019s History Month. All of these events are free to attend.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want as many women as possible to join us,\u201d Santiago said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0She said so far the community involvement of members of the organization have been second to none. During the holidays they provided 300 blankets and toiletries to retirement facilities and held a three-day event that more than 100 women attended. The event touched upon improving business skills, creating their own business and plan, how to facilitate work through artificial intelligence and marketing.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Aldana said the Suncoast She Builds Wealth event attracted 126 women over a three-day period.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cWe got an impact report from Suncoast,\u201d she said, adding it showed direct business to Suncoast. \u201cWe want to honor the people in the group and the sponsors. How powerful is it to say, if you host it will translate to new connections for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0The next series is going to start in April with the Lee County Development Office to help the members navigate through the procurement process, so they can bid for business with the county. Santiago said they are also working with the cities of Fort Myers and Cape Coral to do similar classes.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThis is a great organization to belong to. They take much pride in representing each other,\u201d Santiago said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Next week, a recently formed organization, will hold its inaugural Women in Construction Week Celebration Luncheon in Fort…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-171687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}