Board Members
President and Owner
Construction Consulting NorthWest
Ida Brooker
Ida Brooker is the owner and president of Construction Consulting NorthWest, a mentoring firm for S/WBE firms in the construction industry. Previously, she served as the construction contract expert for The Boeing Company and collaborated with that firm for over 30 years.
Her earlier positions included Chief Financial Officer at Hovick Construction Company. Brooker is serving as board president of the WCOE Resource Center and was a national past president and is a WCOE, USA charter member.
Lee Cunningham
President
BT Metal Sales
Lee Cunningham is chair of the WCOE Legislative Committee and the CEO of BT Metal Sales, a 68-year-old family business founded by her father. Following her father's footsteps, Cunningham has expanded the company, supplying high-quality metal to the military, construction, and transportation industries. BT Metals is one of the country's few HUBZone-certified metals distributors.
Cunningham's commitment to family and community and her staunch support for small businesses have made her a nationally recognized advocate for women in the construction industry. She is the chair of the General Services Small Business Council. She serves on the California High-Speed Rail Business Advisory Council, the Caltrans Small Business Council, and the Small Business Opportunities Advisory Panel for the Air Quality Board.
Mary Therese Duffy
Scale Construction Inc. is a 29-year-old, owner-operated company in Chicago near South Side. Scale seeks clients whose goals closely match those of the company - to build a quality product safely, efficiently, and cost-effectively. Such client relationships are the basis for Scale's success. Scale offers the finest construction management and engineering services from project's conception through completion. The firm is a certified WBE and MBE construction manager and general contractor that can self-perform rough and finish carpentry and concrete.
Scale Construction
Cherylyn Harley LeBon
Cherylyn Harley LeBon is an attorney and strategic advisor with more than 30 years of leadership experience in Washington, D.C. and internationally. She focuses her practice on government contracts and corporate matters, guiding clients through complex regulatory landscapes and business challenges.
Partner
Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC
Alex Iacovelli
Alex Iacovelli is the Director of the Women’s Business Enterprise Division at 84 Lumber, where she leads with authenticity, empathy, and a passion for supporting women-owned businesses. Known for her approachable style and commitment to meaningful partnerships, she works to create an environment where people and businesses can thrive.
Director of Women’s Business Enterprise Division
84 Lumber
Theresa Kern
President & Sole Shareholder
MA Rebar Services, Inc.
Theresa Kern is president and sole shareholder of MA Rebar Services, Inc., one of the Chicago area's largest women-owned subcontracting firms specializing in all facets of reinforcing steel placement for the commercial, industrial, heavy and high-rise construction markets. For more than three decades, Kern has supervised the company's participation in many of Chicago's largest construction projects.
Cynthia K. “Cindy” Martin is the founder and CEO of CINKA Construction & Consulting Services LLC, a veteran and woman-owned small business specializing in federal consulting and proposal development, as well as federal construction, renovation, and facility support services. A retired U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sergeant and former warranted federal contracting officer, Cindy brings over 45 years of combined federal and private-sector experience. Since 2017, she has successfully guided numerous women, service-disabled veteran and minority-owned small businesses in securing federal construction and service contracts valued at more than $275 million.
Cindy holds an MBA, dual bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration and Human Resources, and associate degrees in U.S. Air Force Contract Management and Financial Management. She also maintains an active Top Secret Security Clearance, USACE Construction Quality Management certification, and OSHA 10/30, HAZWOPER 40, and First Aid credentials.
Founder & CEO
CINKA Construction & Consulting Services LLC
Cynthia “Cindy” K. Martin
Brenda Radmacher is a sought-after construction attorney with three decades of experience handling construction disputes and transactions. Brenda is a Partner with Seyfarth Shaw, LLP’s Construction Practice Group based in the firm’s downtown Los Angeles office. Brenda is also a mediator and arbitrator serving on the American Arbitration Association’s panels. Brenda’s legal practice focuses on risk management, dispute resolution, and advice and counsel for developers, owners, builders, and design professionals to find creative solutions to the challenges in the built environment. Brenda brings a broad spectrum of perspectives to her clients’ needs from her experience working on construction projects across the United States as well as internationally.
Brenda has been recognized by her peers and clients and is the recipient of multiple awards, including being recognized as “Lawyer of the Year – Construction (Los Angeles)” by Best Lawyers of America® for 2026, a 2023 Leader of Influence by the Los Angeles Business Journal) in 2023, and awarded as an Industry Veteran by ConstructionDive in 2021, among other recognitions. She has handled some of the largest and most complex construction disputes including being lead construction counsel on the Champlain South Tower Collapse matter in Florida where she was instrumental in negotiating the largest settlement in a construction case in the United States. Through years of handling complex construction disputes and contract negotiations, she developed a sophisticated understanding of construction law, which she applies as a lawyer and as an experienced mediator and arbitrator.
Partner, Construction Industry Group
Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Brenda Radmacher
Mandy Swarts has been in the Construction Industry for 25 years, which have all been with Mark Young Construction. She is currently a Project Manager for the RPSO team of MYC. She is responsible for Reactive Repairs, Preventive Maintenance, Short Duration Projects, and On-Call Projects. She has worked on just about every project type that MYC has completed including municipal, education, retail/grocery, and office projects. The common response from clients and owners she works with is she communicates, follow thru, detailed orientated and takes care of things without hesitation. Mandy is a dedicated worker, and her dedication is a reflection on the years that she has worked with MYC. In 2015 Mandy was nominated as one of the Top 20 under 40.
Project Manager
Mark Young Construction
Mandy Swarts
Deborah Wilder has been a licensed attorney in Oregon and California for more than 40 years, specializing in labor and employment law. She is the founder and president of Contractor Compliance and Monitoring Inc., a third-party consulting company that helps public agencies and large developers/prime contractors monitor, audit, review and comply with state and federal wage requirements, including negotiating and complying with Project Labor Agreements.
Her firm is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay area with offices in San Diego, Phoenix, Seattle, and Maryland. Wilder is the former mayor of Foster City, CA, and past national president of WCOE. She is the author of three books "What Every Contractor Should Know About Prevailing Wages", "AGC of America's Davis Bacon Compliance Manual", and "Davis Bacon Handbook for Public Agencies".
President
Contractor Compliance and Monitoring Inc. (CCMI)
Deborah Wilder, Esq.
Christine Yerkes
CEO
Yerkes South, Inc.
Christine Yerkes is the owner and CEO of Yerkes South Inc, an SBA 8(a), woman-owned, SDV-owned design-build, construction and renovation company focused on military and federal construction. Yerkes is a retired navy commander, civil engineer corps officer who served various tours of duty working for NAVFAC, Seabee's, and Base Facilities for 14 years active duty and seven years reserve duty.
From 2009-2015 she was resident engineer and administrative contracting officer for Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, at Eglin AFB. Previously, she was NAVFAC SE technical director and project manager. Yerkes was DAWIA level 2 contracting officer for construction contracts. She is a registered professional engineer and certified general contractor.
Doris Zografos founded EASE Painting and Construction Inc. in 2010. EASE is an AMPP QP-1 and AMPP QS-1 painting contractor, certified to provide field applications of coatings to complex structures. EASE self-performs industrial, commercial, and marine preservation services that include surface preparation and high-performance protective coatings applications, industrial cleaning, environmental remediation, and general construction services.
EASE has successfully completed 300+ contracts nationwide and has expanded services to extend worldwide. EASE is a certified HUBZone, MDOT, and Woman-Owned Small Business, primarily operating as a U.S. federal prime contractor.
Owner
EASE Painting and Construction
Doris Zografos
Dana S. Thompson
Women Construction Owners and Executives
Dana Thompson serves as the Federal Government Relations Representative for Women Construction Owners and Executives. Thompson represented the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association (SMACNA) on Capitol Hill and in a variety of construction industry coalitions for over 30 years, winning an award for her work on multiemployer pension policy from the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans.
She was inducted into SMACNA's College of Fellows in recognition of service to the industry. Her background includes working for moderate Republican Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and in the Governmental Affairs Department for the American Institute of Architects. Thompson is a native of the Great State of Texas, but talks pretty fast for a Texan. She and her husband of 47 years reside in Maryland, are active in local community activities, and have two adult daughters.