Dear NWiR Members and Supporters,
Amidst the chaos and sadness of the COVID-19 illness, and the difficult decisions it forces us to make in business, we also know that life must go on. Our wonderful roofing industry is an integral part of the North American economy and we have so much joy and beauty to share from our work empowering women in the roofing industry. For this reason, we have decided to publish our newsletter (mostly) as originally written. At the end of the newsletter, we also have some resources to support your transition to remote working.
Warm regards,
Ellen Thorp, Executive Director
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Renae and I have done a lot of reflecting these last few months on the incredible progress of NWIR across the country. All the work the women in the roofing industry participate in to elevate our trade is constantly astounding. There are times we feel overwhelmed with the to do lists and speed of growth this association has had over the last four years. There are certainly times we cannot keep up! What a blessing to be involved in that dilemma of progress for women across the globe. Some of the things we are trying to balance are new councils popping up all over the country after our incredible NWIR DAY 2020, international programs and council relationships abroad, board mentoring and succession, educational content not tapped into yet in our trade, event planning, diversity and inclusion content development, and developing roles for the right strategic opportunities needed to move us forward. This only captures a small portion of the programmatic growth tracks we have brewing at NWIR.
So as we looked at 2020 and the needs to keep the momentum moving forward, it wasn’t a one women chair job! Renae and I needed to find that elusive balance in life we all strive for. We need to continue to add volunteers and association management functions to be strategic in our growth. We devised a plan to meet the demands of our families first, our paid gigs second and our passion for volunteering on this board. Renae is a to do list doer, agendas, tracking, tactical and keeping it all together. It isn’t always ideal for her to travel to events as a local Dallas Contractor with little kiddos at home. I am a passionate ideas women who has to make myself sit down to complete data entry! My kids are also a little older and as long as I leave money and food they are usually happy, so travel can be an easier task for me. There are many other ways Renae and I complement each other to make a team and Co-Chair this association.
Plus, let’s look at what we are trying to promote in our industry. The ideal is to look deeply into the strengths of the people within our teams. One of NWIR goals is to bring more diversity into our trade by recruiting, mentoring, educating and networking designed for retention of our female leaders. How do we do that when women also still struggle with equity in the home. We are taught to work like we do not have children and parent as if we do not work. We must continue to open our eyes to the potential we all bring to be stronger together. To build a culture that isn’t rigid in the hours and time to do the job. As new generations and diversity continues to rise in roofing, we have to be openly adaptable. Thinking outside what has always been done, having the conversations that are critical and building cultures that believe in peoples strengths.
Jennifer Stone, Johns Manville & Renee Bales, KPost Company; NWiR Co-Chairs
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Diversity + Inclusion Forum
The D+I forum scheduled for mid-April has been postponed and we are thinking about how to deliver similar content in a virtual manner. This item has been intentionally left in the newsletter because we wanted you to see our great plans and we hope to host similar content soon!
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By Lauren White
With today’s workforce, in order to attract top talent, having a company culture that celebrates and welcomes diversity, equity, and inclusivity, is vital. Industry leaders and stakeholders will help attendees understand strategies to advance diversity and inclusion and lead effectively in this type of work environment.
According to NRCA,
“...The Diversity + Inclusion Forum 2020 will help you identify ways to engage underrepresented groups, develop resources to increase your cultural competency, and educate you on why supporting diversity and fostering a culture of inclusion is a business imperative to strengthen your workforce.”
Start the day with coffee, networking, and registration. Attendees will then get an overview of the day and special welcome from NRCA CEO Reid Ribble, NWIR Chair Jennifer Stone, and California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce member Julian Canete.
Three sessions will take place before lunch. The first speaker will discuss “Why Inclusion and Diversity are Essential to Foster High Performing Teams” presented by Leah Maguire, Vice President of Inclusion and Diversity at
Owens Corning®
. Next, attendees will hear from Julian Francis, President/CEO of Beacon Building Products about, “Why Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Matter to Your Business’ Bottom Line.” Before the lunch break Julian Canete, CEO of California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, will speak about, “Understanding and Identifying Unconscious Bias.”
At 1 p.m., there will be an industry panel covering “Leading in a Diverse and Inclusive Culture.” During this hour-long session, professionals will share best practices for a diverse and inclusive work culture, in addition to insights and strategies to cultivate competencies. Attendees will gain tools that will help foster an environment of engagement and innovation.
Heidi Ellsworth, RoofersCoffeeShop® partner and owner of HJE Consulting, will be moderating the panel. A variety of roofing professionals will share their knowledge, including: Mardee Billingsley, Executive Vice President
Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance
, Leo Ibarra, Vice President of Blue’s Roofing Co., Sherri Miles, President of Miles Roofing Inc., James Thomas, President/CEO of
Topps Products, Inc., a
nd Elizabeth Walters, Marketing and Business Operations Manager for Derbigum Americas Inc.
Following the panel there will be a mixer to network and discuss key takeaways from the forum. Then attendees can prepare for Roofing Day in D.C. 2020 by completing registration and check in and attending the opening ceremony. Roofing Day brings hundreds of roofing professionals together from all segments of the industry to be seen and heard by Congress.
The Diversity + Inclusion Forum will be an event you won’t want to miss! Join other like-minded roofing and industry professionals from across the United States who are working towards a more inclusive and culturally diverse workplace.
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MENTORING
Melissa Walker, Johns Manville; NWiR Mentoring Committee
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Pat Mitchell Ted Talk and Article
Pat Mitchell is a serial ceiling smasher: She was the first female president of CNN Productions and PBS and the first woman to own and host a nationally syndicated daily talk show. She is also a passionate mentor, and
here, she offers practical advice on how to best empower other women.
"Mentoring is one lever we can activate to advance more women in their work, to help them gain access to capital and economic opportunities they might otherwise miss, and to be better prepared for opportunities when they come."
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NWIR Mentoring Committee has established the option through the
association management system for members to select if they would like to be a mentor or mentee in their profile. Members can then review the list to find someone to either reach out to mentor or ask to be a mentee. With around 50 women already opting to be a mentor, now is a great time reach out!
Another benefit of being a member is access to the
Mentoring Blogs. These short pieces provide insight into various situations and topics.
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MEMBERSHIP
Christee Holbrook, NWiR Membership Chair
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The Membership Committee is looking for additional members to be an active part of our committee. If you are interested in getting involved, contact
Christee Holbrook.
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EDUCATION & SAFETY
Heather Estes, GAF; Education Committee Chair
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NWiR March Webinar: Leveraging Emotional Intelligence
Success at work and at home isn’t solely defined by your mastery of your field or your domestic needs. The ability to process and act upon emotional information in both the workplace and the home is an essential skill for both men and women, and can often be overlooked.
The March Webinar featured Lisa Thompson, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Self Love Beauty who will present on how to
“Leverage Emotional Intelligence” based on the five principles of emotional intelligence as introduced by Daniel Goleman. Attendees learned about emotional intelligence and its five pillars, how to recognize and use it in their workplace and life, and how to use mindfulness and confidence to advance to the next level.
As with any tool, it can be even more powerful when you have the opportunity to implement it within your team and to understand its application in different scenarios. Lisa provided ideas on how to incorporate emotional intelligence into your recruitment process as well as examples of each pillar in action.
A
recording of the webinar is available for a limited time, it will soon be available to members only. Whatever your role in the roofing industry, this will be a webinar you won’t want to miss!
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Spring Cleaning Safety
Michele Pratt, OSEA; NWiR Education Committee
Now that daylight savings time has passed, just like the days' everyone’s to-do list has grown longer with the addition of Spring cleaning. Working from home has its own set of challenges and potential risks. At work, you ensure that you and your employees have the proper PPE (personal protective equipment) for the job at hand. You should follow the same protocol at home. Similar to a job hazard analysis at work you can put the same method into practice at home. Evaluate the task at hand. Specifically, if you are cleaning your gutters the first rule should be to inspect your ladder to make sure it is in good working order. This means the ladder’s rungs are not bent or corroded by rust, ensure any bolts or screws are secure and the labeling on the side of the ladder indicates the correct weight allowed and application. Use best work practice and try to always have an assistant/spotter on hand and at the ready.
In 2017 36,338 people in the US died from a fall. Falls are the second-highest risk of death at home. The statistics I’m referencing don’t break out the falls by the elderly versus falls from at heights or any level of elevation. Injuries due to falls are the leading cause of nonfatal injuries. While on the ladder make sure your footing is secure on each rung, and never use the top rung or try to maneuver reaching leaves, twigs or other items obstructing the gutter that you have to stretch to reach. It is better to go up and down the ladder a number of times, secure your footing and be able to easily reach the area you are working in than lean too far and fall off the ladder. If you are working on a single-story home a four-legged stepladder should provide adequate height. A two-story home would be best served using an extension ladder. You could use a five-gallon bucket secured with a lanyard to collect debris from your gutters while on the ladder.
As a good practice of using proper PPE wearing protective safety glasses or goggles will prevent most eye injuries. You should never attempt to clean gutters where power lines are exposed or may be loose. Have a professional, licensed electrician aid in repairing any low hanging power lines. If there are power lines near where you are working a fiberglass ladder is a safer option. Gloves will help in not having debris poke you in the hand or touching whatever could be hiding in those leaves and twigs.
Once you have all your proper PPE in place, your ladder inspected and your debris bucket in place starts by clearing the leaves and other debris from the rooftop. Use a rake or broom and make sure where you are removing debris is easily reachable. Using a plastic “gutter scooper” will make your job easier and safer as you won’t be grabbing the debris with your gloved hands. While clearing the gutters make sure you unclog the downspouts to allow for ample water flow from rain or snowmelt. If you aren’t sure you can safely clean your gutters, call a professional.
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COUNCILS
Karen Edwards, Casimir Group; NWiR Councils Committee Chair
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If you have been part of a successful council startup, consider joining the NWIR Councils committee. We meet regularly with councils across the country who are looking for guidance and support to get their own local councils established. Your insight and wisdom will go a long way toward helping others find success. If you are interested, please contact the
Councils Committee.
Here’s what some of our councils have been up to lately:
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NWiR Seattle Council
Submitted by Brittany Wimbish
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NWiR Seattle Council joins Rebuilding Together South Sound for their annual Rebuilding Day!
NWiR Seattle Council will be participating with Rebuilding Together South Sound for their annual Rebuilding Day and SheBuilds. This will be held on Saturday, April 25th, 2020.
Our council will be helping Mittie, who is an 85 year old disabled women who has been a pillar in the community for decades. She was an active part of her neighborhood council group and worked as a nurse in Tacoma for many years.
We plan on helping her with the following items:
- Roof related scope – replace roof (2 layers, visual evidence of rotten sheathing), replace water damaged eaves around house.
- Other exterior scope of work – rework handrail to front door, replace garage car door, yard work/debris removal, repair dining room window
- Other interior scope of work – install grab bars in bathroom, repair kitchen ceiling where roof leak caused cracking, installing smoke and CO detectors, providing fire extinguisher.
We’re so excited that GAF has graciously donated all the shingles and has even offered their new Roofing Academy space in Lakewood, WA for us to practice on mock-ups for those of us who are interested in being more hands-on this year.
So, members this is where you come in! If you are interested in being a sponsor event, please email
BrittanyW@FieldsRoofService.com for additional information!
If you’d like to volunteer for the day, please follow visit the
Seattle Council page! We’d love to have you and you’ll get Rebuilding Day Swag!
Thank you to those who volunteered and sponsored last year. We look forward to making this year even better and helping a woman in need!
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NWiR North New Jersey Council
Submitted by Eilleen Troia
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Did you know that social events (even a night out with a small group) is a form of self-care?
As members of the North New Jersey Council we take self care very seriously. We had another successful Wine Down Wednesday in February at a new (to us) location. We welcomed a new member and enjoyed a visit from our friends across the Hudson. We're looking forward to the next WDW.
Originally scheduled for March 25th, at some point in the future we will be hosting "Empowering Your Safety: How to Develop and Employ a Safety Mindset". Brenda Heck, former FBI Special Agent and current Head of Security operations at Standard industries will share best practices, tools and key points on how to stay aware of your surroundings and navigate potentially dangerous situations. Location to be determined!
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NWiR Oregon Council
Submitted by Leah Lemmons
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Village for One 2020
A Village for One is a nonprofit organization serving children who have been victims of sexual exploitation. The foundation is currently building a home to house children while they undergo therapy and recover from the traumas they have endured. When the Home Builders Foundation contacted NWiR Oregon Council about the project, we jumped at the opportunity to provide a roofing system. Together with our generous roofing partners: Malarkey Roofing products – All shingles, starter, ridge and underlayment, ABC Roofing/Tecta America – all roof sheathing, Norweso – all roof flashings and exhaust vents, Bliss Roofing, Inc. – installation crew, CC&L Roofing Company – installation crew, Interstate Roofing, Inc. – installation crew, Roofline Supply (Clackamas) – loading truck and loading crew, Stephens Homes LLC, and Integrity Insurance & Bonding were able to give this house a roof. This project gave our council an opportunity to give back to our community while also providing an opportunity to watch and learn more about roofing installation. Cassie Trahan, the executive founder of this project shared with our council in the fall, the very real sex trade in our own state. We asked the question: how can our community help? The answer: bring awareness to the cause and hold people accountable within our own communities. We all have an opportunity to help put an end to this.
Cassie Trahan is also our guest speaker for the National Membership Outreach community conference call March 11 at 10:00 am.
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TAMKO: A Proud Founding Sponsor
As a founding sponsor of National Women in Roofing,
TAMKO Building Products LLC saw the immense potential of the organization from the beginning. But, in 2019, TAMKO acknowledged NWiR’s value in a new way by growing its employee membership in the organization by more than 500 percent.
These new members include women in the field selling product, scientists working in labs, marketing professionals and women working in supply chain logistics.
Sharenda Campbell, TAMKO Industrial Product Manager & Sales Coordinator, said the intersection of values makes it easy to choose to join and support NWiR.
“We have heard many times, people are what drives TAMKO, that we want to employ the best people,” Sharenda said. “At NWiR, we are educating and making ourselves better. Fortunately for us, with the backing of TAMKO as a founder and a Diamond Sponsor, it is easy to get on board when you have the support of your company behind you.”
A new member of NWiR, Lorena Garcia Cucalon, a TAMKO Research Scientist, loves TAMKO’s support of women in the industry, both historically and today.
“We’re a company that was heavily driven by women during a time when that was not the norm – we are pioneers in letting women drive manufacturing and roofing from the beginning,” Lorena said. “In many companies you will feel like there is a breaking point of things women can’t do, but I haven’t felt that at TAMKO, even on a technical team that is mostly men.”
A new push in 2019 was for women working in TAMKO field sales to get involved with NWiR. Sales Territory Manager Crystal Stone joined NWiR in 2019 and attended the recent National Women in Roofing Day event in her home sales territory of Dallas, Texas. She had the added benefit of participating in the activities that day with some of her customers, women on the roof and in the offices of roofing companies. The networking opportunities and the education was invaluable to Crystal at this year’s event.
“I love being able to attend educational and inspirational opportunities with like-minded professionals as we continue to grow the awareness and presence of women in the roofing industry,” she said.
As an engineer, TAMKO Research Scientist Lorena is no stranger to having been the only woman in the room for most of her professional career. So, the experience of being in a gathering of hundreds of women in the roofing industry was incredibly inspiring, strengthening and valuable to her.
“It’s unique being able to interact with women across the industry at different levels between leadership, construction and manufacturing,” Lorena said. “It provides me the opportunity to learn and see a different side of the industry that otherwise I wouldn’t. I’m in an R&D lab – it opens your mind to the big picture. NWiR Day was eye opening to new challenges and opportunities that can help advance my career, TAMKO and the industry as a whole.”
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EVENTS
Melissa Mulligan, M2C Services; NWiR Events Committee Chair
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Both NERCA and IIBEC have been postponed or cancelled; these items have been intentionally left in the newsletter because we wanted you to see our great plans and we hope to host them in a couple months or next year.
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NWiR at the NERCA Convention 2020
We are so excited to see you at the NERCA Convention 2020. Be sure to stop by the booth and say hi, meet other NWiR members and pick up some NWiR collateral! Join us at the NERCA Convention and experience one of the largest regional roofing tradeshows in the country. This year’s show continues to deliver quality education and will feature nearly 200 booths displaying products and services designed for you the roofing professional!
NWiR Networking Reception: Making Connections, Building Relationships, Creating Opportunity
We’d also love for you to join us at the NWiR Networking Reception featuring a presentation by Red Clover Consultants on Networking: Making Connections, Building Relationships, Creating Opportunity. We’ll have members of the NWiR Board of Directors there and members of the local councils in the northeast to meet you; and of course plenty of time for talking about empowering women in the roofing industry!
The NWiR Networking Reception will be held on March 18th from 6-9pm at the Hard Rock Cafe. You are welcome to join us even if you aren’t attending the NERCA Convention. All are welcome!
Please register here.
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NWiR at the IIBEC Convention
NWiR will be presenting original research on mentoring and coaching women at the IIBEC Convention being held March 26-31, 2020 in Houston. Jennifer Stone, Jennifer Keegan and Ellen Thorp will discuss the workplace advantages of coaching and mentoring employees and the benefits of these techniques to employee retention. Several NWiR members attend the IIBEC Convention as it is an excellent source of technical information. The International Institute of Building Enclosure Consultants (IIBEC) is an international association of professionals who specialize in roofing, waterproofing, and exterior wall specification and design.
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NWiR at Roofing Day in D.C.
On March 17th, Roofing Day in D.C. was cancelled.
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Make NWIR Events Memorable and Meaningful by being on the Events Committee!
We’re looking for those interested in providing creative contribution and logistic execution of trade shows and events for NWiR. As a newly created committee, we are looking for those that want to make a difference and interface with other committees in helping them achieve the goals of NWiR. If you’re interested,
email the events committee!
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Are you speaking at an upcoming industry event? If so we want to know about it and share that information with our members. Email the information to Communications Committee Chair
Anna Anderson
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Resources for Remote Work
We have vetted these t
wo resources for remote work - you may remember
Leila Gowland
who was our speaker at NWiR Day 2018; she is the author of the resources posted below. Follow #nwir on your social media platforms for more great info!
and
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NOTES FROM ELLEN'S DESK
Ellen Thorp, NWiR Executive Director
Answers from the NWiR Office
Did you know that NWiR has a physical office with a team who answers the phone? We do! Although they aren't NWiR employees, they do work closely with the association management to respond quickly to some of the most frequently asked questions. Call the office at 303-450-3150 if you have one of these questions:
- What is my member number?
- I can’t get into the member database, can you please reset my password?
- I need to change my username.
- I need to change my email.
- I want to access a password protected page, how do I find out the password?
- I’m a Council leader and can’t get into the website to access my Council page to update it.
- I’m a Council leader and can’t find a particular document.
Regarding NWiR Council events & activities
NWiR encourages members to remain educated on public health issues by following the guidance of the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the
World Health Organization, the federal government and their local jurisdictions regarding gatherings of people. NWiR is aware that other companies and organizations may ask their employees to curtail their activities and we support the right of each entity to make their own decision.
NWiR will support the efforts of council leaders to create virtual and online based meetings and can provide training to council leaders on doing this. Council leaders should stay tuned for an email on Wednesday afternoon with more information.
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Thank You To Our Diamond Sponsors
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Thank You To Our Platinum Sponsors
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Thank You To Our Founding Sponsors
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Thank You To Our Gold Sponsors
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NATIONAL WOMEN IN ROOFING |www.NationalWomenInRoofing.org
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