9th Annual Women in Construction & Project Development Event

DATE: 5/22/2024
TIME: 4:30-7:00pm
LOCATION: Falmouth Country Club
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Begun by Bernstein Shur construction attorney Asha Echeverria, this annual event creates a rare opportunity for women in the construction and project development industries in New England to network and discuss current significant issues, challenges, and opportunities in their industry.  From infrastructure to the challenges of growing a woman workforce to success in leadership, we cover topics that not only affect our industry but touch all of us in our daily lives.

The theme for this year’s event is honing your craft. Whether your role is in the office, at the job site, a little of both, or somewhere else entirely, the process of evolving your skills, techniques, and ideas is something each of us experiences in our professional journey. This might show up in your work through actions and attributes like careful consideration, a commitment to continual improvement, passion for your work, humility, deliberate development, and the willingness to invest the necessary time and effort to achieve your goals. No matter how you have honed your unique craft, your actions have contributed to the diversification and growth of this critical industry.

Our panelists will share PechaKucha style presentations – a fast-paced, visual form of storytelling inspired by the idea to “talk less, show more” using images – followed by a panel discussion. Drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and time to network with friends and colleagues will be provided.

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Meet Our Panelists:

Priscilla Hansen Mahoney – Founder, Blazing Trails Coaching

Priscilla Hansen Mahoney is an ICF-accredited business coach for contractors with over 20 years of experience in the lawn/landscape industry. As the founder of Blazing Trails Coaching, she helps contractors grow, profit, and succeed by aligning them with the right plan, the right process, and the right people. With expertise in process management, Six Sigma, and High-Performance Team Building, Priscilla has assisted countless business owners in creating their business models, systemizing their businesses, developing team leaders, and building businesses that support their desired lifestyles.

Mary Costigan – Shareholder, Bernstein Shur

Calm under pressure, dependable, and a true advocate for her clients, Mary is an experienced municipal and environmental law counselor. Having worked in the public sector for years before joining Bernstein Shur, she has a firsthand understanding of the issues faced by municipal and state employees and boards—and how to help her clients confront them. Her most recent public sector position was associate corporation counsel to the City of Portland, where she advised the city staff and council on waterfront redevelopment and rezoning, among other projects, and was a resource for numerous committees—Energy and Environmental Sustainability and Community Development Committees, to name a few. Outside of the office, she teaches a Municipal Law Course at the University of Maine School of Law.

Rebecca Costigan, P.E. – Chief Engineer, Criterium Engineers

Rebecca Costigan is a Mechanical Engineer with over 20 years of energy and building engineering experience as both a lead field engineer and a project managing engineer. Her experience has been with a large global engineering company as well as an independent engineering consultant performing site engineering and troubleshooting of systems as well as thermal energy analysis of industrial systems and buildings. Rebecca regularly is an adjunct in the Mechanical Engineering Technology department at the University of Maine and currently serves on the Industrial Advisory Committee for the University of Maine Department of Engineering Technology. Rebecca Costigan is a licensed Professional Engineer with Certified Energy Manager, LEED AP, and Green Building engineering certifications along with a license in the real estate industry. She is a current member of the National Society of Professional Engineers as well as a Member of ASHRAE, the US Green Building Council, and the Society of Women Engineers.

Margo Walsh – Founder, Owner, MaineWorks

Margo Walsh founded MaineWorks in 2011 to provide employment opportunities for people in reentry from jail and prison and in recovery from Substance Use Disorder. Using a staffing agency model, MaineWorks offers labor support to the industrial construction sector in New England; the construction industry offers great career opportunities because it is ‘merit-based’ and has multiple career paths to choose from. MaineWorks was the first company in Maine to be certified as a B Corp, balancing mission and margin. MaineWorks has grown to include three New England states and is ready for expansion into other markets.

In 2017, Margo cofounded United Recovery Fund, (formerly Maine Recovery Fund) to provide financial support to address various obstacles to employment including: transportation, rent assistance, work wear, license reinstatement, court fees, mental and physical healthcare as well as dental and vision care.

Margo Walsh grew up in Cumberland, Maine, graduated from Waynflete School in Portland, Maine and received a BA in Psychology from Wheaton College. After college, Margo worked in New York within the Investment Banking Division at Goldman, Sachs & Co. leading college and MBA recruiting. Later Margo moved to Connecticut and worked for the international consulting firm, Hewitt.

In 2010, out of her own recovery, Margo was volunteering at the Cumberland County Jail and recognized that the inmates involved in the ‘prerelease employment program’ were under-employed which gave her an idea to start a felon-based employment company.

Meet Our Moderator:

Erin Diekema – Attorney, Bernstein Shur

Erin is an experienced real estate attorney who helps her clients navigate complex development projects in Maine and beyond. Erin uses her background in wealth management and emerging markets together with her business management education to provide comprehensive advice to her clients as they undertake financings, acquisitions, and divestitures to strategically grow their portfolios.

Prior to joining Bernstein Shur, Erin worked as a Series 7 registered financial representative in a private wealth management firm and as a growth strategy consultant to Fortune 100 companies. This experience attuned her to how individuals and organizations analyze risk while expanding their opportunities, balancing the intersection of law with market conditions and financial health.

Thank you to our sponsors:

We align with the definition of women and female that explicitly includes not only cis women, but also trans women and femme/feminine-identifying genderqueer and non-binary individuals.

If you have any questions related to this event, please reach out to us HERE.

Photos from the 9th Annual Women in Construction and Project Development Event can be found below.