“My biggest lesson over the last 25 years is to be genuine and truly build relationships on your projects and within the industry. Don’t be afraid to ask the question that everyone else is scared to ask.” – Wendy Cohen
WENDY COHEN
President, Kitchell CEM D
uring her 25-year career in con- struction, Kitchell CEM President Wendy Cohen has had the opportunity to work as a general contractor,
construction manager, consultant and owner, gaining broad industry perspective in the process. She has managed a host of large-scale capital projects including the $1 billion Palomar Medical Center, the $455 million MiraCosta CCD bond program and provide executive oversight on the billion-dollar Richards Boulevard Office Complex, to name a few. Cohen’s broad-ranging construction experience and strong leadership skills propelled her into the executive ranks. She joined Sacramento-based Kitchell CEM in 2013 as a regional executive, charged with opening their Southern California offices. In 2020, Cohen became the first female to take the helm
in Kitchell’s 70-year history. She oversees a workforce of over 300 employees managing construction projects across the United States. Cohen credits her experience managing the high-profile
Palomar Health program as one of the most instrumental opportunities of her career. “I cut my teeth on leadership and learned as a I grew on that complex project,” she commented. “It taught me about the importance of relationships and col-
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laboration in construction and really changed the trajectory of my career.” Her collaborative approach proved to be an asset early on in the field, where she learned from and was mentored by some of the most veteran superintendents. But as one of the few women on jobsites early in her career, “It was often assumed that I was providing administrative support rather than holding a technical role on the project,” she said. “It quickly teaches you not to make assumptions about individuals or their role on a project.” “My biggest lesson over the last 25 years is to be gen- uine and truly build relationships on your projects and within the industry. Don’t be afraid to ask the question that everyone else is scared to ask,” she added. “Overall, I have found that most people are well-intentioned.” With more women now filling a variety of roles and an
industrywide emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion, the construction workplace of today is quite different from when she started, Cohen said. “I think there is just an overall awareness now that a diverse team can produce great results; a woman on the jobsite doesn’t look as out of place as 20 years ago.” She estimates that 40-50% of the job candidates applying for positions at Kitchell today are diverse candidates – a gen- erational shift that is helping reshape the overall workplace demographics, albeit slowly. Mentored by a variety of people over the years, these days Cohen often has the opportunity to be a mentor to others at various stages of their careers. She readily offers this advice for both young women and men who are early on in their career journey: find a mentor, or several, along the way; don’t judge your success based on other people; and most importantly, say “yes” to new opportunities and lean into challenges as they arise. “So often an opportunity is presented to us, and we think it could be a right fit, but we don’t raise our hand,” she said. “Raise your hand and say yes when a new opportunity comes your way. You never know where it might take you.”
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