Why did you create the Rising Stars program?

I created the Rising Stars program in August of 2020 and have taken the long road to its launch in March 2022. The program was born out of my desire to connect with my local communities and create real opportunities for the disadvantaged youth within them. From the start I felt the “it takes a village” approach was the best way to achieve my ultimate goals for the program. It was clear from the inception of the program that a lot of people would love to use their expertise to lift up others but didn’t necessarily have the platform to do so. This program allows all of that knowledge to flow to the next generation. I also believe this was an incredible opportunity for Tremco to be more engaged with the communities we operate in every day. 

What are some advantages of the Rising Stars program? 

By bringing in experts from both Tremco and our incredible outside partnerships, we created a curriculum that provides a wholistic view of not only the construction process, but pathways to these careers. One of the biggest goals of this program is to show young adults they have people in their corner and provide them with not only a boost in their construction knowledge but a start on their networking career. One item that has been an extremely important talking point with our participants is taking ownership of their future. Ownership can be in the entrepreneurial path, but also just ownership of their brand, and creating the level of accountability required.  

What other initiatives are you involved with?  

As much as I am focused on making a positive impact outside of Tremco, I am also the chair of the DEI  Policy and Procedure subcommittee within Tremco CPG. Our committee of 11 employees represent several divisions within the company and aim to drive culture and overall improvements to how we approach DEI at Tremco. We have such a great opportunity to leverage the many voices of our company and use this opportunity to continue to improve.  

My day-day role within Tremco is extremely new and exciting, serving as the Deep Energy Retrofit Development Representative. Created towards the end of 2021, this role has focused on developing opportunities in the northeast related to retrofitting existing buildings to reduced energy consumption of the buildings at least 50 percent. I have been working with several different government agencies on this emerging part of our industry dating back to 2017, so when I joined to Tremco it was apparent to me that this was the right company to enter this space. I have helped spearhead our Retrofit New York efforts and helped form our strategy to access this market. The building stock is primarily low income/affordable housing in our urban markets, which aligns well with my goals to positively impact the 3 community. I take great pride in that everything I am involved in has a focus in creating better, more sustainable communities!