Empowering Women to Lead

By Karen L. Edwards, RCS COO.  

This company walks the talk when it comes to supporting the growth of women.  

Roofing has long been a male-dominated industry, with women making up less than one percent of the workforce. There are some forward-thinking companies in the industry who recognize the value that women bring and are working hard to change these numbers. One of those companies is SRS Distribution.  

In 2015, SRS Distribution held the first SRS Women’s Leadership Forum (SWLF), an event that continues today. Ellen Stanton, MIT program manager at SRS Distribution explained, “Our President and CEO Dan Tinker has always seen the value of having a diverse team in our business and especially women. He has been a big supporter of this event.”  

The annual event is put together by a team of volunteers within the company and is typically held over a three-to-four-day period. In addition to Ellen, this year’s hosts included Sonya Wells, SVP, information technology, Christine Mockenhaupt, regional asset manager – East division and Jeci Savenko, manager, vendor incentives.  

“We held the event at our new corporate headquarters this year because we really wanted people to see the new corporate campus,” said Ellen. “We generally have about 100 women come who represent a combination of corporate leaders and field leaders. These are people who often don't get to meet each other face to face.” 

The event is filled with opportunities for networking and socializing and features speaker and educational sessions designed for learning and growth. The women heard from speakers on topics ranging from overcoming challenges, to diversity, to the importance of appreciation and recognition as well as the power of feedback and how to do it effectively and gracefully.  

With the SRS company motto being ‘make money, have fun and give back’ Ellen said that every year the leadership event incorporates an opportunity for giving. For this year’s event, SRS partnered with Dallas-based jewelry company Kendra Scott who set up a table filled with beautiful jewelry. A portion of the sales were donated to the SRS Raise the Roof Foundation to support their many initiatives.  

Beyond the SWLF, the company has Employee Resource Groups (ERG), one of which is called WISE that provides support and mentoring year-round. WISE is an acronym for Women in Search of Excellence.  

“You don't have to be a woman to be in the women's ERG,” explained Ellen. “They're open to all employees and it's just our way to connect people. We sent out a survey to see what people wanted to get out of this ERG and they said networking and career development.” 

Each month the ERG holds a WISE Wednesday where they have a one-hour meeting with monthly topics and speakers. In May they focused on mental health awareness and June is safety in the summertime.   

SRS Distribution also supports women everywhere in the roofing industry through their involvement in and sponsorship of National Women in Roofing.  

Learn more about SRS Distribution by visiting their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or www.srsdistribution.com.