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CSI celebrates Women’s History Month, honoring the countless contributions women have made to the AECO (Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Owner) industry.
The month is set aside annually to honor women’s contributions in American history. The 2022 Women's History theme, “Providing Healing, Promoting Hope,” is both a tribute to the ceaseless work of caregivers and frontline workers during this ongoing pandemic and a recognition of the thousands of ways that women of all cultures have provided both healing and hope throughout history.
Here, CSI sits down with former CSI Board Chair Ellen Kay Crews FCSI, CCS®, CCCA®, CDT®, SFP, FMP.
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Please share some of the professional achievements and special projects that have the most significance to you?
Special projects – there are so many over my career. Developing the Division 01 – General Requirements documents for Federal government and other public/private sector clients would represent several such projects, each a memorable effort and achievement. Becoming the head of a specifications group, responsible for managing the content of the specifications, participating with design document coordination, and serving on representative design teams another highlight. Being publicly identified as a subject matter expert in asset management.
What first intrigued you about a career in the AECO (Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Owner) industry, and how does it continue to both challenge and reward you?
Cannot say there was something that “first intrigued” me, for what was offered was a “job” – to become a specifier’s assistant. I knew nothing about specifications at the time, nor was I educated as an architect or engineer. But I accepted the challenge, and it set the stage for the remainder of my career. This initial relationship grew and grew, and the gentleman who believed in me, well, the two of us developed a “reputation” of sorts, for getting the specifications turned around quickly and accurately. He also introduced me to CSI, little did I know then how important CSI would become.
From this first position and introduction to project design teams and specifications, I changed firms twice and with each subsequent position learned other disciplines, other project processes and requirements, not to mention how each A/E design firm conducted business in its unique way. I also remained involved with CSI, moving from one city’s chapter to another and yet a third.
Who are some of the other women in the industry who have mentored or inspired you?
The other women who initially inspired me were each CSI associates, from Jane Baker, the first woman to be elected president and a leader in the South Central Region, to Alana Sunness Griffith and Edith Washington (also CSI presidents). There are too many women to name or even count who were and still are active in CSI chapters and who serve as those trusted advisors (manufacturers’ representatives) all-knowing about their respective products and services. These individuals inspired me because of their perspectives and enthusiasm, not only for CSI, but for the industry.
What advice might you share with women just beginning their careers—or that you wish you could have given yourself?
Keep your mind open to new ideas, to change, as this industry and technology and its impact is ever-changing. Don’t allow yourself to become content with current achievements or successes, but discover what challenges and opportunities lie ahead and take them on – for the most part learn, learn, learn. Ensure you stay educated, don’t become complacent when listening to others’ perspectives – absorb their ideas instead.
And – I believe most of all, develop and nurture relationships. There is nothing more magical than walking into a room full of people you do not know and instantly making a connection, that relationship which for me has turned into many a personal friendship. This has held true for my experience with CSI, but works in so many other arenas, business, and personal.
Are there specific opportunities—or roadblocks—you see for other women in the industry now?
We still have a long way to go. When I first started, I was the ONLY woman working with men. The other women in the firm held a secretarial position or were in some other support role (e.g., accounting). There were no female architects or engineers at that time. A lot has changed during my career. One of the important things I sometimes “fight” to remember, is that whatever my perceived obstacle was at the time, most were never real, unless I have wanted them to be and almost worked at it – be positive! Roadblocks are illusions we create in our minds because there’s a voice inside that feeds our self-doubts and fears. BELIEVE in yourself, and in our industry.
When it comes to opportunities – find other women, those who do what you do, those who don’t. Whether that be within your firm or professional organizations like CSI. Celebrate one another, do not compete. This is also true of your non-female relationships!
How has your own path evolved from specifier to strategic consultant and past CSI Board Chair, and what is it about the professional learning process that you enjoy the most?
My shift from being a specifier participating on project design teams to one of serving as an owner’s consultant, staff extension, or that other set of eyes, while not an achievement in the way of any identified, personal goal, is something I look back on and feel good about.
My career has been built around relationships, within CSI, with my clients, within my firms and those of my competitors, within family and my friends. Don’t be shy, find others with differing opinions, those knowledgeable in other areas, and as previously stated: Don’t be afraid – to learn, to meet others. You might think you have “the” answer, but there is always someone other, another opinion, another great idea, right around that next corner; be open, listen, learn.
The 2022 theme for Women’s History Month is “Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope.” How can—or do—CSI members do exactly that right now?
Do not whatsoever doubt yourself, your position no matter what it is you currently do; you provide value. From those educated as architects or engineers to those who know their products and services in detail, your contributions are numerous and will instill hope in the younger professionals new to the industry, those new to CSI. Most of all, we should listen to those around us, and understand what everyone is saying. At the same time, never forget who you are and what it is YOU want to accomplish. This is true for each of us as professionals, or within our chapters, as CSI members.