Looking Back
Last March, Blacklidge was honored to sponsor Women of Asphalt at the 2018 World of Asphalt Show and Conference in Houston. We helped launch Women of Asphalt with networking opportunities, fostering online conversations and a photo booth at their official mixer. By the end of the party, the booth was all out of Women of Asphalt T-shirts and hundreds of sign-up cards had been collected. Pictures from the photo booth (featuring pink hard hats, feather boas and fun signs) can still be seen on the Women of Asphalt Facebook page.
The next day, Women of Asphalt hosted a forum and the room was packed! Natasha Ozybko of Road Science opened the forum, and then keynote speaker Dr. Audrey Copeland—who is now President and CEO of NAPA—gave a powerful presentation about Women in Asphalt. Blacklidge sponsored coverage of the presentation on Twitter and Facebook Live.
A panel discussion between the forum members followed Dr. Copeland’s presentation. Panelists included:
Rhonda Taylor, P.E.—State Pavement Design Engineer/Leader of the Pavement Management Section of the Florida Department of Transportation
Rachel Sullivan—Construction Dispatcher for Gallagher Asphalt Corporation
Amy E. Martin, Ph.D, P.E.—Associate Professor in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University and and Associate Research Engineer with Texas Transportation Institute (ITT)
Kat Crownover—Manager of Supply and Trading, Valero Energy Corporation
Janet Callahan—President and COO of Palmer Paving Corporation
Sheila Barkevich—Vice President at Callanan Industries, Inc.
Ashley Batson—Executive Director, South Carolina Asphalt Pavement Association
Audience participation was strong throughout the Q&A session that followed the panel. The women and men in attendance asked thoughtful questions that clearly showed their willingness and readiness for more progress, more jobs, more opportunities and more engagement.
Looking Forward
With World of Asphalt 2019 kicking off on February 12th in Indianapolis, Blacklidge is excited to sponsor Women of Asphalt yet again this year! This year’s forum, led by Dr. Rita Leahy, will build on last year’s conversations about how women can thrive in the industry. And, once again, we’ll be sponsoring the photo booth at this year’s event. Additionally, we’re looking forward to hearing keynote speaker, INDYCAR owner and race car driver Sarah Fisher.
We couldn’t be prouder to sponsor Women of Asphalt, and we know that 2019 is going to be another great year, both for the organization and for the World of Asphalt conference. Be sure to catch our coverage of the events February 12th and 13th on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you’re already planning to attend World of Asphalt, check out the Women of Asphalt schedule of events and join us. We can’t wait to see you there!