On the first day of National Women in Construction Week this March, Marcia Bolton walked into The Shop by Build Trybe for her Monday volunteer shift and gasped. In front of her were three young female apprentices and the Build Trybe Building Trades Manager, Kendell Harbin, welding together in full gear.
“I stopped them and said, ‘This is a moment! We have to take a picture,’” said Marcia. “I told them, ‘This is so awesome. You are in it. There are not many people who do this, and you are young women doing this.’”
As the Senior Quality Manager, Structural Engineer at JE Dunn Construction in Kansas City, Marcia knows a thing or two about construction work herself.
She first came into contact with Cornerstones of Care as a regular attendee of the annual Build Trybe fundraiser, Savor the Sound. She developed a love for the organization and believed in teaching kids about the building trades, so she approached Kendell about becoming a volunteer. At the time, The Shop at Build Trybe primarily relied on one-time groups and on-call volunteers to help with larger tasks.
However, once Marcia began volunteering with the program in the late summer of 2022, it quickly became evident how valuable she was to the team.
“Marcia is one of those volunteers who shows up and knows how to make herself useful,” said Kendell. “It’s an invaluable role because it helps me breathe a little bit easier, and it also puts a positive adult role model in the room who’s not an authority figure. That is so, so rare in every other environment of an apprentice’s life.” Kendell also mentioned volunteer Liv Nunez as an important presence at The Shop.
In addition to helping with construction projects and pitching in with welding, sanding, cleaning, and other tasks, Marcia offers her guidance and support to the apprentices as they navigate graduation and life after Build Trybe.
“I really feel like I can have an impact there,” said Marcia. “You’re introducing these young people to something they probably would not have found on their own, you’ve given them a support network, you’ve given them a pathway to confidence – and I believe in what the program is doing.”
When Marcia was about to graduate high school, she, too, felt that familiar uncertainty of what to do next with her life – like so many young people do. She knew she wanted to go to college and study something involving math and was prepared to pay her way through school.
On a whim, she applied for a small scholarship via a local engineering club and won it. An interviewer on the committee owned an engineering firm and invited her to apply for a summer internship. She worked with that small engineering firm for three summers in all.
“That’s how I became a structural engineer,” said Marcia. “Somebody paid it forward for me to try it, and I just loved it,” said Marcia.
Now, Marcia is paying it forward by volunteering with the Build Trybe Building Trades program and sharing her experience, skills, and passion with the youth.
Just this past winter, Marcia helped a recent Build Trybe graduate prepare for a job interview in construction. She walked through potential interview topics with the young woman and talked with her about the reality of working in a male-dominated construction industry.
Opportunities like that are often unplanned and informal conversations, but Marcia is always ready to offer her support, whether sweeping floors after a long day’s work or assisting an apprentice with a cover letter and résumé.
“I really love the humility that she brings to a very technical working environment,” said Kendell. “She’s a very well-trained, well-educated engineer with experience working at job sites. There are a lot of people that would walk into a shop space like this and want to share their expertise, maybe to exhaustion."
Instead, Marica takes a different approach that is less about her and more about the growth and development of the youths that come through the program.
“She lets the apprentices be the leaders and puts their experience and knowledge at the center,” said Kendell.
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Learn more about the Build Trybe program by visiting the program’s website or by reading our recent blog, “Build Trybe Graduate Finds Confidence to Pursue the Next Big Dream: To Become a Travel Nurse.”