Guest Speaker: Brynn Huneke, Director, Diversity & Inclusion, Member Engagement
BuilderCast Series Host: Betsy Bailey, Director of Government Relations, NC
BuilderCast Co-Host and Producer: Sharon Walters, Director of Digital Operations
How does someone from a town of 750 people in Minnesota end up working on a Diversity & Inclusion Initiative in Washington DC for a National Construction Trade Association?
Brynn Huneke moved to DC to pursue a career in politics and began working at AGC in the Government Affairs department. Then, she had an experience on the Metro. Listen to her story, and hear an honest reflection on how she started to question her own biases, educate herself, and then choose a career path to do something about it.
As Brynn was getting certified in the field of Diversity & Inclusion Management, AGC of America was developing it’s Diversity & Inclusion program and she was a perfect fit for the role. That was 4 years ago and this past March, AGC of America launched it’s Culture of CARE campaign. This initiative began at the chapter level with AGC of Washington. AGC of America was already doing some work on Diversity & Inclusion and teamed up with the Washington State Chapter to create a national campaign. The Culture of CARE campaign asks construction companies to take a pledge to build diverse and inclusive workplaces. Making our workplaces more welcoming and inclusive is good business ethics, good for sustainability and profitability, but additionally attracts talent when workforce shortages demand we bring new individuals into our industry.
Working through these topics and efforts can be difficult and quite different for companies depending on size and resources available. Brynn notes that AGC of America knows this campaign cannot be stagnant and continues to add tools and training to the Culture of CARE website as an ongoing effort.
“We felt like Culture of CARE had a really unique position to be able to talk about that mental and emotional well-being that comes with caring, truly caring about your employees in the middle of a pandemic and how you support them as individuals whose lives have been up-ended.”
--Brynn Huneke on how Culture of CARE can help support individuals and companies dealing with new realities.
Find out more and consider taking the pledge about the Culture of CARE after listening to this podcast by going to www.buildculture.org.
Buildercast is created and produced by Carolinas AGC with a goal of reaching a wider audience and providing information that contributes to the success of our industry, and those working in the industry.
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