A quiet role model: Having a black woman in charge shows the construction field is changing
Ikea says it’s seeking top talent and diversity
The Ikea construction site in West Sacramento is booming – 265,000 squarefeet of concrete floors framed by blue and yellow walls, soon to be filled with
furniture and furnishings for the hip and stylish masses.
At the West Sacramento project recently, men in hard hats sent sparks
flying at a circular saw, while others installed shelving from floor to ceiling,
a massive undertaking in itself.
A few of the workers did a double-take when
Lydia Gartrell strode by. She didn’t seem to notice, probably because Ikea’s
construction manager been mistaken for someone else – for something else – much
of her working life.
As a fashionable woman in an industry of hard hats
and dirty fingernails, Gartrell is accustomed to being underestimated. “I’ve had
people think I’m somebody’s assistant,” said Gartrell when asked about past
cases of mistaken identity. “I’m used to it.
“A quiet role model: Having a black woman in charge shows the construction field is changing”
By Blair Anthony Robertson
Sacramento Bee
Photo: Sacramento Bee/Paul Kitagaki Jr.
