Mollie LeBlanc, SPHR
Assistant to the District Engineer
Missouri Depoartment of Transportation
St. Louis Metro District

"In the four years that I have been in my position with the St. Louis district of the Missouri Department of Transportation, I have had many opportunities to partner with the Missouri Women in Trades (MOWIT) group. This organization acts as an advocate for women in non-traditional occupations.

At MoDOT, the largest portion of our workforce is semi-skilled maintenance workers who maintain the roads and bridges across the state. These are the employees who mow the right of way, patch the potholes, plow the snow, remove the debris, paint the stripes and on and on. Most folks do not expect to see women working in this role. However, we have many women who have chosen this occupation as their career. MOWIT has partnered with MoDOT to educate supervisors on the challenges that biases can bring to the work environment, helped us bring the women in our organization together to discuss common issues and mentor each other to success, and brought like-minded women to our attention to increase the number of women in our workforce.

Another very crucial role that MOWIT plays in the community is educating young women of the opportunities available to them in the future. In their role of advocacy, each summer MOWIT sponsors a summer camp afford girls the opportunity to explore careers in construction and build their skills in carpentry, electric, and welding. MOWIT is highly successful in increasing the opportunities for women in these and other non-traditional careers. In addition to supporting the women in non-traditional occupations, MOWIT supports the organizations who employ women in their workforces, to develop and grow in their chosen profession."

MOWIT Matters! If MOWIT matters to you, DONATE NOW!