Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas Honors California Women in Construction With State Proclamation, Policy Ideas
By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media
To honor Women in Construction Week, Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 30 in the State Legislature on March 6. This resolution pays tribute to women and highlights their contributions to the building industry.
The measure designates March 2, 2025, to March 8, 2025, as Women in Construction Week in California. It passed 34-0 on the Senate floor.
“Women play an important role in building our communities, yet they remain vastly underrepresented in the construction industry,” Smallwood-Cuevas stated. “This resolution not only recognizes their incredible contributions but also the need to break barriers — like gender discrimination that continues to block women from pursuing construction careers.”
Authored by Assemblymember Liz Ortega (D-San Leandro), another bill, Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR) 28, also recognized women in the construction industry.
The resolution advanced out of the Assembly Committee on Rules with a 10-0 vote.
The weeklong event coincides with the National Association of Women In Construction (NAWIC) celebration that started in 1998 and has grown and expanded every year since.
NAWIC began in 1953 by a group of women to help create a support network for other women in the industry. Women In Construction Week (WIC) raises awareness about the role women play in the male-dominated profession.
The same week in front of the State Capitol, Smallwood, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Assemblymember Josh Hoover (R-Folsom), and Assemblymember Maggie Krell (D-Sacramento), attended a brunch organized by a local chapter of NAWIC.
Two of the guest speakers were Dr. Giovanna Brasfield, CEO of Los Angeles-based Brasfield and Associates; and Jennifer Todd, who serves as President and Founder of LMS General Contractors.
Todd is the youngest Black woman to receive a California’s Contractors State License Board (A) General Engineering license. An advocate for women of different backgrounds, Todd she said she has been a woman in construction for the last 16 years despite going through some trying times.
A graduate of Arizona State University’s’ Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, in 2009 Todd created an apprenticeship training program, A Greener Tomorrow, designed toward the advancement of unemployed and underemployed people of color.
“I always say, ‘I love an industry that doesn’t love me back,’” Todd said. “Being young, female and minority, I am often in spaces where people don’t look like me, they don’t reflect my values, they don’t reflect my experiences, and I so persevere in spite of it all.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 11.2% of the construction workforce across the country are female. Overall, 87.3% of the female construction workers are White, 35.1% are Latinas, 2.1% are Asians, and 6.5% are Black women, the report reveals.
The National Association of Home Builders reported that as of 2022, the states with the largest number of women working in construction were Texas (137,000), California (135,000) and Florida (119,000). The three states alone represent 30% of all women employed in the industry.
Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) and the California Legislative Women’s Caucus supported Smallwood-Cuevas’ SCR 30 and requested that more energy be poured into bringing awareness to the severe gender gap in the construction field.
“We often talk about the importance of a workforce and workforce development, especially in support of good paying jobs here in the state of California,” Rubio said. “The construction trade are a proven path to a solid career. and we have an ongoing shortage and this is a time for us to do better breaking down the barriers to help the people get into this sector.”
Last week, the Los Angeles Black Workers Center (LABWC) reported that the Black community represents 9% of Los Angeles County’s population and 10% of all new construction apprentices. In 2009, the LABWC started as a project at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Labor Center.
The center’s mission is to expand access to quality jobs, reduce employment discrimination, and enhance companies that employ Black workers through action and unionization.
Black Californians make up only 4.9% of the construction workforce and Black representation on publicly funded projects in the county is much lower, hovering around 3%, the LABWC disclosed.
“Adopting equity provisions in Project Labor Agreements and Community Benefit Agreements are crucial to closing these gaps. Let’s continue to support policies that uplift the next generation of women in the trades,” Smallwood-Cuevas stated.
The California Department of Industrial Relations, and its Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS) provided the second round of Equal Representation in Construction Apprenticeship (ERiCA) grant. It made $13 million available to improve access to training and employment opportunities for women, non-binary, and underserved populations to enter the building and construction trades.
The deadline to apply for the grant was March 12. The first round of the ERiCA grant awarded $25 million for the years 2023-2025. The applicants were from either the DAS Registered Apprenticeship or Pre-Apprenticeship program.
“When it comes to women in construction we’ve have made incredible strides. We see more and more women breaking barriers,” said Kounalakis, whose family owns a high-profile construction and development business. “I believe there is something fundamental in (women’s) psyche, core, you soul that makes you feel differently when you’re involved in building something tangible.
