Inspiring Dome Construction Women: Candace Dorsey

We are thrilled to shine the spotlight on Candace Dorsey for our next Women In Construction week highlight.

Candace originally planned to start her career as a landscape architect, however, the recession had other plans for her. So, she took a risk and bought a one-way ticket from DC to the Bay Area, leaving everything behind to start a new career. “I puttered in a few things before I realized that the industry I kept tip toeing around, and what seemed to be tough and very masculine, was the same industry that I kept being drawn to. I love design so construction was the best next step of making a design come to life.”

What Candace loves most about her role as an Assistant project manager is “meeting new people and developing those interactions into real friendships, seeing the finished product, especially on challenging projects – it’s a great feeling of accomplishment.”

Candace has learned to be successful during her time in the industry. As a woman, you need to “develop confidence in your voice, keep empowering other women, and keep wanting to learn.” Educating young girls that there is a career for them in Construction is a great way to encourage more women to enter the industry. “Start educating them early and keep reminding them through grade school until college. This includes all aspects of Construction from the trades to running projects from school fairs to field trips and volunteer activities.”

Some necessary improvements need to be made to get more women into our industry. “Construction is not an industry that younger generations are flocking to, so I hope it continues to shift and turn to women to help change and expose new opportunities for women, especially women of color.” Another change that Candace hopes to see for women in Construction is “a more diverse and inclusive representation of women in C-suite positions and more male allies for recruiting and retaining women in the industry.”