Page 27 - Nov/Dec Vol34 No5

TCAPWA EVENTS AND HIGHLIGHTS

made strides forward.” Panelists from left to right: Julie Bertilis, Territory Manager for the Southeast with Oldcastle Stormwater
Stone spoke about how socioeconomic Solutions; Intern with City of Chattanooga Public Works Department and University of Tennessee at Chat-
tanooga student Krystina Kulakevich; Vanessa Jackson, Neighborhood Program Specialist with the City of
statuses affect diversity. Growing up in the Chattanooga Multi-Cultural Affairs and Neighborhood Services; and Donald Stone, Deputy Administrator
hyper-segregated city of Milwaukee, he said with the City of Chattanooga Public Works Department.
he was poor, but didn’t know he was poor.
as a woman working in a man’s world, she richer it becomes.
“I used to nail a milk carton on a couldn’t rely on going hunting, golfing or Catering was provided by Fresh2Order.
lightpole to play basketball. Well, that’s fishing to help gain trust and make a sale.
engineering,” Stone said. “We need to look “To prove myself, I work harder,” she said. Water Quality Program, Oldcastle
at talent; we need to look at capabilities “I work harder; I work smarter.” Stormwater Solutions, Panera Bread,
instead of race, religion and gender.” Fresh2Order, and the Chattanooga
The panelists agreed that the more Chamber of Commerce sponsored the
Kulakevich spoke on the topic of Mil- diversity we can add to our workplace, the luncheon meeting.
lennials. “We have a completely differ-
ent definition of diversity than the Baby
Boomers and Gen Xers.” She emphasized
that to the people ages 19 to 35, diversity
is not just about gender, race, and religion,
but about different life experiences and
cognitive thought processes. Innovation
comes from sharing and merging different
people’s ideas.

“There are 74.5 million Millennials in
the U.S. It’s important to a department or
to a business workforce to have a work-
force that includes Millennials because we
are upcoming and you can’t get rid of us,
especially if you want to have a depart-
ment that is innovative and progressive,”
she said.

Bertilis detailed her 20-year sales career
in the construction industry. She said that

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