March 9, 2026 – Every year, Women in Construction Week gives our industry a chance to pause and recognize the impact women have made, and continue to make, n construction. At GCON, we used the week to do more than mark the occasion: we built a series of moments designed to educate, connect, and celebrate the women across our company, from the field to the front office. Here’s a look back at how we spent the week. Â
Bringing Trailblazers to GCON
For Women in Construction Week, GCON set out to remind our teams that the work we do every day carries the fingerprints of women who shaped this industry long before us. Posters showcasing these historic women, their work and impact went up throughout the office, and a companion newsletter carried the message to our teams nationwide.Â
Take Edith Clarke, widely recognized as the first American woman to work professionally as an electrical engineer. In 1921, she invented the Clarke Calculator, which let engineers determine the maximum power a transmission line could carry while staying stable — math that still underpins how our trade partners design and build power grids today. Or Elsie Eaves, whose data-tracking methods laid the foundation for the cost indexing still used in preconstruction estimating today.Â
These aren’t distant historical footnotes. They’re part of the reason our teams work the way they do now. And that same progress continues with the women doing this work alongside us today.Â
Bringing Our Women Together: A Company-Wide Panel
GCON brought together women from across the company, some joining virtually, others flying in from job sites across Arizona, for a candid panel discussion. The group spanned departments and levels, from the field to finance to quality, including a superintendent and a VP, each bringing a different vantage point on what it means to build a career in this industry.Â
Rather than a scripted Q&A, the panel worked through curated questions that pushed for real answers: How do you navigate a tough conversation with confidence when you’re leading trade partners in the field? How do you establish authority and respect on a job site? What’s your proudest moment? What’s something you had to overcome to get where you are?Â
The result was an honest, unfiltered exchange — mentorship, hard-won advice, and shared experience passed directly from one woman to another. It was a reminder that some of the best lessons in this industry come from simply hearing each other’s stories.Â
A Look Inside: Project Tours at PHX-13 and PHX 7-2
The day didn’t end with the panel. That same morning’s conversation carried straight into the afternoon, as the group headed out to Waddell for a firsthand look at one of GCON’s largest data center campus projects.Â
Split into two groups for guided tours, each was guided by women directly responsible for the work on site. Esme Vazquez, PHX-13’s superintendent led the tour of the newly erected concrete shell, while Madison Gardner, a project engineer, led the tour inside of the PHX 7-2 fit out. Watching them move through a massive, complex job site with total command of the details — fielding questions, pointing out systems, explaining sequencing — was its own kind of statement. Their technical fluency and confidence spoke for itself: this is what expertise looks like, and it was on full display from women leading the work firsthand.Â
Closing the Day with Connection
The day came full circle at Lazybird in Peoria, where the group gathered for food, a build-your-own bouquet bar, and one more round of open, honest conversation, this time with a more personal touch. After a morning of panel discussions and an afternoon on the job site, this final stretch was about simply being together.Â
That connection is the point. Women in Construction Week is a chance to recognize, company-wide and industry-wide, the impact women have had on this field, and the continued need to include, promote, and encourage women in construction. But just as importantly, it’s about building something closer to home: a supportive environment at GCON where women going through the same experiences can lean on each other. Because the more connected we are, the stronger we all are, and the stronger GCON becomes.
Thank you to every woman at GCON who made this week possible — from those who helped plan it, to those who shared their stories, to those who showed up. Here’s to continuing to build, together.Â
