It was also a great opportunity to introduce themselves to the many Webcor engineers, superintendents, managers, directors, and executives who showed up to support and connect with the next generation of Webcorians.
“We have limited time with the interns each summer, so it’s imperative that we take advantage of our opportunities to demonstrate our values and culture,” says Project Manager David Friend. “In LA, we had a great turnout from the interns, ACE externs, and their managers, which was very appreciated. The high turnout from local leaders and ERGs was the cherry on top.”
This year, the intern and ERG teams combined the Intern Welcome Event and ERG Rush into a single event to maximize 1) ERG Rush attendance and 2) interns’ time with the ERG/s they chose to join. Both teams decided this approach would be more effective than hosting ERG Rush in August after work hours, as they’d done in past years.
Their efforts paid off—nearly all interns/externs joined this year’s event and listened closely to ERG leaders’ presentations during the Rush portion.
“Learning about Webcor’s ERGs and the type of support they offer employees of different identities and backgrounds was my biggest takeaway,” says Ava Grochowski, a civil engineering major at UC Berkeley who’s interning at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC) Behavioral Health Services Center (BHSC) this summer. “I felt like the ERGs created a safe sense of community, which I appreciate.”
This year’s NorCal event was held at Tunnel Tops Park in San Francisco’s scenic Presidio neighborhood. Interns/externs on Bay Area projects and the Reno ConRAC project gathered for an afternoon of lawn games, pizza/drinks, relaxed conversation, and connection.
“I loved the ice-breaker games we played for Webcor-branded items,” Ava says. “I won a Webcor mug, which made me very happy. But beyond that, the games made it easier to socialize afterward. It was a great way to become familiar with people’s faces.”
In downtown Los Angeles, intern managers hosted the SoCal event at LA Live’s Lucky Strike bowling alley. Several ERG leaders, including CFO/CAO/Sr. EVP Matt Reece, traveled from NorCal to meet our SoCal-based interns and introduce them to each group.
As The Collective’s executive sponsor, Matt kicked off the presentations with an overview of the ERG and emphasis on the significance of our overall ERG program.
“As someone who identifies with one of the ERGs, I thought they sounded like a great resource,” says Jordan El Azzam, a computer science major at UC Irvine who’s interning at UCI Mesa Court Housing Expansion. “It’s comforting to know there’s support available to employees if needed.”
