NEF President's Message

NEF extends its heartfelt gratitude to all the NAWIC Regions for their outstanding fundraising efforts during Forum season. Due to the hard work of your Regional Fundraisers and Liaisons, almost $13,000.00 was raised! These funds assist NEF in bringing our library of courses to a digital platform as well as enhancing our online testing protocol, and the funds that our NAWIC Regions have raised this year are certainly paving the way for many more changes on the horizon. Again, we thank you!!

Our year will culminate with two (2) exciting events: Construction Document Technician review course and testing scheduled for Tuesday, August 20th and our Arms-Length Raffle Extravaganza. Be sure to get your raffle prize donations into the NEF Office as soon as possible to ensure that they will be counted toward your Region’s fundraising totals. We’re pretty sure that there are a couple of Regions out there trying to unseat the current leader, Pacific Southwest Region.

We would also like to congratulate Mr. Michael Barkett, President of the Mississippi Construction Education Foundation, on being named this year’s Carol A. Kueker Construction Education Visionary Award winner. For more information on Mr. Barkett and the Kueker Award, please visit our website at https://nef-edu.org/news/.

As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to any of our Board Members or our Administrator, Patti Susko, for assistance.

Sincerely,

Tammy

Tamara S. Crooks, CIT
NEF President 2018 – 2019

NEF Spotlight

Wendy Jarred, CBT, CCA, CDS, CIT, EIT, LEED AP BD+C
NEF President Elect 2018-2019

I began my NAWIC journey in February 2005. I was searching for a group of women that shared my passion for the construction industry and was also intrigued by the course offerings through NEF. I was a quiet person, hardly said anything – that person in the corner of the room. I jumped right in and received my CIT, then CDS certifications. NAWIC member and incoming Region 5 Director, Frankie Rivers, approached me at the airport on my way home from an event and said that I should look into becoming a trustee for NEF. She thought I would be a great addition to the board because I had such a passion for education and learning. I investigated and dove right in. The first year I applied I was not accepted, but the desire to be on the board was alive in me, so I applied again the following year and was elected to serve as a trustee. While on the board, I continued to take the certification classes offered. I hold all certifications except for the CIS. I have served on the board every year since then, except for one year that I took off to regroup my life.

I have worked with my chapter for our Block Kids events over the years and even helped to have our first Design Drafting competition when I was chapter president. There is still work to be done to get our local school districts involved with this competition. I was also the National Block Kids chair this year. It was interesting to see the talent and imagination that the younger generation has.

NEF continues to strive to improve its educational programs and K-12 offerings. Since that first year as a Trustee through today, I have seen our programs develop from paper testing to online testing and there are many exciting things coming with our programs in the very near future. Each year the board works hard to bring improvements to our programs and industry. I am proud to serve with the dedicated women and men on this board and look forward to serving in the future.

I never imagined that this journey would lead me to be NAWIC chapter president, much less become the 2019-2020 NEF President. I have made many lifelong friends from being involved; some that I thought I would never get a sentence in with. If you are passionate about something, get involved. You may not succeed the first time, but don’t give up.

NEF News

Will you please help our efforts?!? NEF is in need of donated items for this year’s “Arm’s Length Extravaganza” at Annual Conference in Atlanta, GA.

  • Donations must be received in NEF’s office in Orlando, FL Friday, July 12, 2019
  • Donations must be clearly marked for “Arm’s Length Extravaganza”
  • Monetary value must be verifiable by NEF
  • Donor must state their Region in order for Region to receive credit.
Don’t forget to send in any donations to be included in NEF Region Fundraising Competition with a NEF Donation Breakdown Report.  You can find one on our website under “Forms” or click here.  This year’s winning Region will be announced during Annual Conference and will have bragging rights for an entire year!!!