An Inside Look at Kleinfelder’s Women’s Network and the Important Role it Plays within the Firm

March 8, 20180
“When it comes to diversity, we compare OK with our peers in the industry, but that is not good enough. The bar is set really low. Just because we are comparable to the industry doesn’t mean we are going to settle for being average in the industry.”
Dirk Applegate, Central Division Director

It has been very rewarding to see the Kleinfelder Women’s Network evolve over its three-year history. In that time, we have held several educational and social gatherings across the company, consulted with senior management on gender issues, and received great support in our efforts to be an inclusive community. We have accomplished this with strong program leadership and executive sponsors who were committed to the network’s success. This past year, we developed a strong purpose statement to guide our activities, we better utilized our network leadership to provide local and division-wide events that are significant to that location, and we continue to share ideas and feedback with our executive sponsors and one another.

 

Our Purpose

The Kleinfelder Women’s Network contributes to the ongoing development of a performance culture by:

  • Driving inclusion to achieve our vision to attract and retain great people who seek to enrich the lives of people in our communities by creating and improving infrastructure.
  • Promoting diversity to enhance creativity, problem solving and decision making.

Achieving our purpose will be accomplished through the following actions:

  • CONNECT women across Kleinfelder and their communities.
  • DEVELOP women through knowledge sharing, informal discussions and specific workshops.
  • ADVISE senior leadership on gender-related matters that improve our performance, retention, development and recruiting efforts.
  • GROW and improve Kleinfelder through networking internally and externally, learning and development activities, and mentoring and advocacy opportunities.
“Kleinfelder employs some of the best and brightest women in our industry.  It’s important we commit to providing equal opportunities, along with mentoring and development, to ensure each employee, regardless of gender, has the opportunity to excel in their career journey.”
Jim Nikolareas, Australia General Manager

By improving diversity and inclusion across the Company, everyone benefits:

Employees

  • Higher levels of engagement, and feeling valued and respected for what they can bring to the table.

Clients

  • More creative and innovative solutions, better problem solving and decision making, and increase efficiency and effectiveness.

Business

  • Better attraction and retention of top talent, improved performance, and a stronger brand through market presence and enhanced Company image.
“The diversity of our workforce needs to be expanding across our enterprise. This diversity will help generate better solutions for our clients, will improve our business performance and will enrich the culture of our offices.” 
Derek Fisher, East Division Director

Network Leadership
We have great support for our efforts through program leadership, executive sponsorship, and division and area leads. This includes members of our executive team and a network leader for each division.

Area Leaders/Local Events
We have several area leaders who are working with their network division leaders to plan and facilitate local events focused on the needs and interests of their area.

Division-wide Events
Division Directors are working with their network leaders to drive the importance of Our Purpose to their divisions, identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement, and take actions to help “move the needle.”

“I am very confident we will have a very robust diverse work environment with engaged people that will ultimately lead to exciting careers and great career opportunities for everyone as we grow the firm.”
Louis Armstrong, West Division Director

 

Kleinfelder. Bright People. Right Solutions. Founded in 1961, Kleinfelder is a leading engineering, design, construction management, construction materials inspection and testing, and environmental professional services firm.  Kleinfelder now employs more than 2,200 professionals and operates from over 75 office locations in the United States, Canada, and Australia.  The company is headquartered in San Diego, California.  Poised for growth, Kleinfelder continues to provide high-quality solutions for our diverse client base.  Visit Kleinfelder.com or follow us on LinkedIn/Kleinfelder.