A New Chapter for the Region
The National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) has established its Top of the South chapter, bringing formal professional networking and support infrastructure to women working in construction across the Nelson and Tasman regions. The launch was attended by Marlborough Mayor Nadine Taylor, who spoke to the tangible progress women’s representation in construction has made — from on-site roles through to project management and governance.
Taylor highlighted Te Kahu o Waipuna — the Nelson library and art gallery complex — as a project that demonstrated the range of roles women now occupy: not simply token presence in historically male roles, but substantive contribution across the full project delivery chain. For women working in construction in Nelson and Tasman, that visibility locally is meaningful in ways that national statistics and Wellington-based initiatives cannot fully provide.
What NAWIC Provides
NAWIC’s chapter model provides three core functions: networking with other women in the industry (addressing the isolation that remains one of the most significant barriers to retention in a male-dominated field), mentorship from women who have navigated the specific challenges of construction careers, and career development resources targeted at the professional advancement barriers women face disproportionately in the sector.
The 2024 NAWIC Excellence Awards received record nominations — a metric that NAWIC Co-founder Stacey Mendonça described as evidence that “the industry has answered the call to enter a wide range of roles.” Industry recognition through awards and association membership provides external validation for careers that may not receive the same informal acknowledgement that male colleagues receive in workplaces where their presence is the norm rather than the exception.
Why Regional Chapters Matter
For women in Nelson and Tasman, the professional isolation that comes from being a minority in a regional industry — where you may be the only female builder, engineer, or project manager in your immediate working environment — is more acute than for women in major centres with larger professional networks. A regional NAWIC chapter creates a local peer community that reduces that isolation, provides a local reference point for mentorship, and ensures that women in the Top of the South do not need to travel to Auckland or Wellington to access the professional development resources the sector increasingly offers.
