While it may be true there are more women in public works than there used to be, deeper questions still remain.

This week on Public Works Radio, the official voice of the American Public Works Association (APWA), we're joined by two individuals whose decades of passion for this line of work serve as inspiration to the next generation of young women ready to break into this field and lead it forward: Roby Whitehouse and Shannon Williams, PE.

Roby is the Assistant Public Works Director in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, a town she's been serving for nearly 30 years. For Roby, leadership didn't come from a single, predictable path. It came from years of hands-on experience across several areas of public works, including cemeteries, facilities, highway, parks, and waste management.

Shannon serves as Principal Engineer for Keller Associates in Salem, Oregon. She's worked in some form or fashion related to public works for 27 years. During this time, managing projects in everything from roads and bridges to dams and levees, wastewater/stormwater, and hazmat, she's learned a lot about asserting herself and owning her work.

Join us for a vibrant conversation with two respected public works professionals who just happen to be women. They’ll share how they got here, the challenges of working in a male-dominated field, nontraditional paths to leadership, and what changes when the workforce starts to look a little bit more like the communities it serves.

Public Works Radio is hosted by Bailey Dickman, Senior Digital Marketing Specialist with APWA. Each episode dives into a wide range of topics designed to educate and inspire, making public works more visible to everyone, from the general public and elected officials to industry peers and the media. If you haven't already, please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, rate and review the show, forward it to a friend, and drop us a note at podcast@apwa.org so we can hear your feedback directly!

More Show Notes and Resources

APWA’s Workforce Development Committee: https://www.apwa.org/group/workforce-development-committee/

CareerZone’s Career Paths tools and resources: https://careerzone.apwa.org/career-paths

Host a Girls in Public Works Day with this toolbox: https://www.apwa.org/resource/girls-in-public-works-day-toolbox/

Roby Whitehouse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roby-whitehouse-b587a346/

Shannon Williams, PE, on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-williams-pe-b737a422/