Lynn Bennett
Senior Vice President
Coakley & Williams
Construction, Inc.
Lynn Bennett never intended to work
in construction, but when she applied
for an office manager job 35 years
ago it turned out to be in an onsite
construction office. She liked the work
so much that she later took a job with
McCormick Construction.
“I worked there with a really great
superintendent, Ken McDermott, who
took me under his wing, taught me
how to read plans and about what
was happening on the job site. He
empowered me in that position,”
she recalled.
Bennett joined Coakley & Williams
Construction in 1987 as the first woman
in operations management. She was
promoted from project manager to
project executive, and then to vice
president for design/build operations.
As senior vice president, she has moved
into the strategic side of the business,
responsible for areas such as succession
planning, employee career pathing and
leadership development.
“I love a challenge; it’s part of my
personality type,” she said. “In this new
role I feel like I really have the ability
to help those behind me and effect
change for our employees and the
young people coming into our industry.
“I recognize that I can be that role model
for women coming into construction,
the one that I didn’t have,” Bennett
continues. A platinum-level graduate of
ABC of Metro Washington’s Leadership
Development Program, she currently
serves on the executive committee for
Career Real Estate Women (CREW) DC.
She’s also mentored a small company
through the Prince Georges County
Contractors Development Program.
Bennett is impressed with the talent she
sees inCoakley &Williams’own internship
program. “I love to see the young women
who are choosing this as their career,
to see how strong and smart they are
and the leadership skills they’re already
developing at such a young age.”
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20 Building Washington
