NAWIC Announces 2011 Crystal Vision Award Winners

FORT WORTH, Texas, May 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) is pleased to announce the winners of its 17th annual Crystal Vision Awards. The mission of the awards is to recognize individuals who promote, expand and encourage the role of women in the construction industry. Colleen White is the recipient of the Crystal Vision Award, which is given to a non-member of NAWIC, and Renee Conner, CIT, is the recipient of the Crystal Achievement Award, which is presented to a member.

Colleen White, president and owner of Strategic Workplace Solutions, Inc., has made numerous advancements on behalf of women in the construction industry. White served as the first woman delegate to a Building and Construction Trades Council in the entire U.S. She was also the first woman to run a department for an international building trades union when she served as director of the Department of Safety for the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades. In addition, she has testified before the U.S. Congress and served on OSHA and EPA regulatory committees.

White is not alone in her efforts to raise the profile of women in the Construction industry. Renee Conner, CIT, president of Precision Tapping, Inc., collaborated with a fellow NAWIC chapter member to start the Mentoring a Girl in Construction(TM) (MAGIC) Camp. This is a free weeklong summer day camp for young women in high school or GED programs. Tradeswomen and other women working in the construction industry offer the campers hands-on training, educate them on scholarship and apprenticeship opportunities, and give them an idea of what the construction industry has to offer.

White and Conner will be honored during the 17th annual Crystal Vision Awards Gala at NAWIC's 56th annual Meeting and Convention in St. Louis, Mo., Aug. 31-Sept. 3, 2011. NAWIC members from across the country will gather at the Renaissance St. Louis Grand Hotel in St. Louis for the Convention, which will culminate at 7 p.m. on Sept. 3 with the Awards Gala.

Contact Autumn Daughetee, NAWIC communications director, at [email protected] or (800) 552-3506 for more information about the Crystal Vision Awards, photos or to arrange an interview. Visit the NAWIC website at www.nawic.org.

SOURCE National Association of Women in Construction