This half-day event on April 1, 2022 will focus on how everyone in the construction industry – from leadership to site managers – can help their companies build thriving, diverse teams.

Join your colleagues and CU Boulder faculty, staff and students for discussions on how to attract, retain and optimize the top talent your company is looking for. You’ll get the chance to:

  • Learn new communication strategies and skills
  • Recognize the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion on your jobsite
  • Better understand the challenges current students and recent graduates joining the construction workforce navigate

We look forward to seeing you!

This event is being held in alignment with CU Boulder's COVID-19 regulations. For the latest information, visit the campus COVID-19 site.

Summit Schedule

A conference in the Glenn Miller BallroomAll sessions will be held in the University Memorial Center Glenn Miller Ballroom on the CU Boulder campus.

  • 8 a.m. – Check-in
  • 8:30 a.m. – Welcome and introductions
  • 9 a.m. - Noon – Breakout sessions
  • Noon - 2 p.m. – Lunch, keynote speaker and closing

Beverages and light snacks will be provided throughout the morning.

Breakout Sessions

  • Session 1 - Sharing our Stories: Student and Recent Graduate Panel - Hear personal experiences and stories from CU students and graduates. Share your own stories and explore ways to appreciate everyone’s uniqueness and leverage these assets for better relationships and bigger results.
  • Session 2 - Valuing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Enhancing Company Culture - Have an interactive discussion with your peers to define DEI and why it matters (from job site to the entire industry); reflect on where you are on the DEI journey and decide how you will cultivate an inclusive environment in your day to day decisions and actions. 
  • Session 3 - Applying an Equity Lens: Communication Framework that Supports Retention and Engagement - Learn essential practices for meaningful conversations that support everyone in speaking up, delving into differences, and respecting everyone's contribution; put your learning into practice with relevant diversity, equity, and inclusion scenarios.

Meet Our Keynote Speaker

Michael J. Garner, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, State of New York

Michael GarnerMichael J. Garner, MBA, is a champion of the diversity market, making it his personal and professional mission to create a more diverse business industry. By creating new programming at the MTA, Garner and his teams have been responsible for more than $17.3 billion in payments made to New York State/City Minority and Women-owned Businesses.

Since his arrival at MTA in 2009, Garner and his team have designed and implemented workforce strategies which have increased ethnic minority and women hires by 20%, which has further diversified the MTA’s 70,000 plus employee workforce.

In addition, Garner is an advisor on Minority, Women, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise matters to various U.S. cities and states, including Buffalo, Chicago, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and the State of New Jersey. Garner’s innovative programming has ensured access to government contracts for communities of color.  As a result, those communities now have access to job creation, home ownership, better educational opportunities, and health care options.