In her role, Henningfield focuses on building stronger talent pipelines and opening more doors to careers in the skilled trades and field operations. She also works to create workplace environments where women have real opportunities to grow and advance.
Henningfield is also involved in Superior Construction’s Women in Construction (SWiC) leadership program, which saw every participant earn a promotion in its first year.
During the interview, she talked about why it is important for CONEXPO to host a workshop like EmpowerHER and how bringing more women into the industry could help address construction’s ongoing labor shortage.
Henningfield said creating a more inclusive workforce is key. This includes encouraging women to join the industry, supporting women-owned construction companies, and helping more women move into leadership and decision-making roles.
The EmpowerHER workshop also featured several other industry voices, including Jennifer Todd, Colleen Munro, Amy Underwood, Missy Scherber, Katie Kelleher, and Ebony Jennings.
About the Author
Gavin Jenkins, Senior Managing Editor
Senior Managing Editor
Gavin Jenkins is an award-winning journalist based in Pittsburgh. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, VICE, Narrative.ly, Prevention, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Beijing Review.
In 2020, two stories he wrote for Pitt Med Magazine earned three Golden Quill Awards from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania. “Surviving Survival” won Excellence in Corporate, Marketing and Promotional Communications – Written, Medical/Health, while “Oct. 27, 2018: Pittsburgh’s Darkest Day, and the Mass Casualty Response” won Excellence in Written Journalism, Magazines – Medical/Health, as well as the Ray Sprigle Memorial Award: Magazines, a Best in Show award.
After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in 2003, he covered sports for the Bedford Gazette, in Bedford, Pa., and the Martinsville Bulletin, in Martinsville, Va. In 2006, he returned to Pittsburgh to write for Trib Total Media. Based out of the Kittanning Leader Times, he worked for the Trib for two years, and then he moved to Shenzhen, China, to teach English and freelance. After two years in China, he earned an MFA in nonfiction from the University of Pittsburgh.
When he's not at work, he's usually playing with his border-collie mix, Bob.