Speakers for Ignite 2021

Mark Douglas is the President and CEO of LCPtracker, Inc., a privately held company providing cloud-based software services for construction compliance and workforce development. His vision for LCPtracker is to empower people to build better communities. And this begins with his company’s flagship product, which helps government agencies and contractors maintain and enforce prevailing wage provisions for state, local, and federal law.

Today, Mark is taking his company to new heights – transforming LCPtracker into one of the fastest growing companies in Orange County, California. He prides himself in fostering a team of over 80 highly motivated and dedicated employees and building a reputable organization in the construction industry with over 2,500 clients and 100,000 contractor users nationwide, including 20 of the top 50 cities in the US.

Dr. Giovanna Brasfield commonly known as “Dr. G,” presently serves as the CEO and Principal Consultant at Brasfield & Associates. Brasfield & Associates is a premier consulting firm focusing on leadership, diversity, and inclusion initiatives. Most recently, Dr. G served as the Vice President of Project Diversity & Inclusion for Flatiron Construction’s Southwest Division as well as the Inclusivity Manager for LINXS Joint Venture team delivering one of the region’s key infrastructure projects on the Los Angeles World Airport’s Automated People Mover (APM) project.

Deborah has been a licensed attorney for 39 years (Oregon 1981, California 1984) having argued labor and employment law cases in multiple states and before the US Court of Appeals. In 2002, she created Contractor Compliance and Monitoring Inc., (CCMI) a third party consulting company which assists public agencies and large developers/prime contractors monitor, audit, review and comply with state and federal prevailing wage requirements.

Abigail Palomares comes to AGC of California with a background in youth education, career exploration and coaching, human resources, strategic relationship building and joins us with a ton of positive energy and enthusiasm.

In her most recent position, Abigail was a Project Director for ConXion To Community Bright Futures, where she recruited and then worked with at risk youth and young adults to create and reach their educational and career goals, managed and audited all programs while also developing and maintaining relationships with local colleges and universities, community organizations, government agencies, and funders. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology with a minor in Justice Studies from San Jose State University (SJSU) and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Administration.

Erin Volk is the Vice President of Workforce & Community Development for the Associated General Contractors of California (AGC), which represents more than 1,000 construction companies and construction related firms throughout California. Erin joined AGC in 2010 as the Executive Director of the Construction Education Foundation and in 2015, she was promoted to Vice President for the Association providing leadership and strategic direction to statewide workforce development and various programs and services that comprise the operations arm of the organization. She currently holds seats on AGC of America Construction Careers Taskforce and the National Governing Board of Directors for Women in Construction Operations (WiOPS).

Donna has been in the Construction Industry for 30+ yrs in various role capacities as a Project Manager, Human Resources & Payroll Manager, and Labor Compliance Director. Each role has shaped Donna’s knowledge and experience to assist her as the founder and CEO of “Prevailing Wage Resources”.

Donna was recruited by San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) to spearhead their first ever Labor Compliance Department where she wrote five (5) LC Manuals, held numerous trainings and implemented the LCPtracker system throughout the agency for Consultants, Primes, & Subcontractors.

In October 2019, Khalia joined Swinerton Incorporated in the newly created Director of Compliance/Corporate Counsel role, where she is responsible for developing and executing strategies regarding compliance operations in the areas of labor, EEO, and MBE/WBE/SBE.

SUE began her career in construction over three decades ago. She has worked in the civil, heavy highway, oil & gas, power, and mining markets. She was the West Coast Business Director for a large international contractor and was responsible for strategic planning, talent management, financial projections and corporate reporting, financial and project controls, change management, regulatory compliance, and labor relations. Sue was also intimately involved with the $1.5B I-405 Project in Los Angeles with responsibility for 11 departments including project engineering, risk management, financial forecasting, and contract and subcontract administration.

Allen has worked in compliance- related roles for more than 20 years. Initially focusing his efforts in the field on heavy civil, highway, water and energy projects, Allen later shifted his efforts to a corporate role, managing risk mitigation and employee education. Joining McCarthy Holdings, Inc. in 2017 as the Director of Corporate Governance, Allen is responsible for overseeing the company’s Ethics and Compliance Department while also serving as the company’s Corporate Ethics and Compliance Officer.

In 2018, Roxanne joined Great Scott Tree Care as a Payroll and Benefits Administrator. Initially focusing on Certified payroll and Labor Compliance. She successfully integrated LCP products into the company’s payroll process. She’s currently the Human Resources Manager supporting a growing company while still managing her previous responsibilities.

Derrick K. Watson currently serves as Project Liaison for the City & County of Denver: Denver Construction Career Pilot. Prior to him accepting this position, he served as Job Seeking Consultant for Denver Workforce Services. Before his career in the Denver Workforce Center, he has over 35 years’ experience working at all levels of Higher Education.

Marcus has over 20 years of management and sales experience across multiple industries. In 2015, Marcus became the first Economic Development Project Manager for the City of Sierra Vista, Arizona where he planned and implemented multiple initiatives which bolstered the local economy. Marcus is now leading the Denver Construction Careers Program aimed at building a talent pipeline to fill the Billions of dollars of infrastructure, office and housing projects across the Denver Metro Area.

Lisa has been assisting clients with certified payroll needs for almost 7 years. She specializes in payroll for contractors and is the Area Sales Manager in charge of the Construction and Contractor division at Paychex. Lisa partners with LCPtracker to streamline clients’ payroll process in order to put revenue generating time back in their day.

In her own words:
“I couldn’t be more excited to be working for such a recognized organization that has received multiple accolades from the IRS, AICPA, IFA, Fortune Magazine and Ethisphere. I take great pride in knowing I work for the best HR and Payroll company, as well as one of the most ethical companies in the nation.”

Myllex Guadamuz is focused on building – people, careers and communities. His belief in people, passion for helping, and determination to make a difference in the communities where PCL Construction builds is a driving force for change. As a workforce development professional creating career pathways in construction, Myllex focuses on meeting people where they are at and opening doors to new opportunities. With more than 14 years in the diversity and inclusion space, and the last four years dedicated to workforce development, he has led PCL in creating over 200 careers for new, local and first period apprentices focusing on underrepresented groups in the skilled trades.

Ron Gardner, a Schenectady resident, Is the Affirmative Action Officer for The City of Schenectady. His role is to focus on diversifying the city workforce, increase employment opportunities, reducing barriers for minority and women-owned businesses seeking city contracts and increasing communication about those opportunities, while increasing the number of M/WBE firms.
Gardner A SUNY Albany graduate, prior to joining the City of Schenectady, worked as diversity management and compliance consultant for non-profits, municipalities and small businesses.

Carl Alexander is a 24-year-old software specialist with Stockbridge Consulting. He graduated from Clark Atlanta University in 2018, returned home to Washington, D.C and began working at Stockbridge shortly after. He specializes in management of LCPtracker for the District Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. Carl has a passion for technology since he was young which allowed him to gain a good perspective of what he strived to become in life. Carl became fascinated with technology because of the things we can create to educate ourselves and generations to come.

Lindsey Woolsey is the Branch Chief for Headquarters Labor Compliance Administration, Regulations and Training Unit. She began her career with California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation before coming to Caltrans Labor Compliance in 2012 where she worked as the Lead Labor Compliance Officer and completed monitoring and enforcement actions on construction, service and A&E contracts. As the certified instructor for Headquarters Labor Compliance she has developed and instructed more than 150 trainings and presentations on prevailing wage throughout the state to both Caltrans staff and partners in the industry. Currently her unit manages prevailing wage coverage reviews, trainings and statewide policy for Caltrans.

Nhubinh Nguyen has over 15 years of experience working on multi-billion dollar construction programs for school/community college districts, universities, and transportation authorities. Nguyen led the implementation of LCPtracker at BuildLACCD and developed their current labor compliance monitoring procedures. Leveraging the data collected via LCPtracker, she supported BuildLACCD’s Local Hire team by improving customized workforce reports and analyzing workforce data to identify placement opportunities. At the Los Angeles World Airport (LAWA), Nguyen supported the Project Labor Agreement team, HireLAX program, and Landside Access Modernization Program (LAMP) Inclusivity team. She enhanced HireLAX data analytics methodology to increase efficiency and contributed to the development of HireLAX’s Workforce Manager database.

Kristine grew up working in the construction industry. As the third generation in a family run company, her skills and expertise span from working in the field, customer service, and management. In 2009, Kristine founded Absolute HR Consulting & Services which supports businesses with compliance in public works and human resources. With over 30 years in the construction industry and 25 years in public works, she understands the importance of maintaining compliance. Absolute HR Consulting & Services provides seminars throughout the state covering State and Federal public works.

Ms. Richardson is the Director of Diversity and Equity at SANDAG. She has been at SANDAG for over 17 years and is responsible for numerous programs, such as the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), Small Business (SB), Bench Programs for Architecture and Engineering (A&E), Construction Management (CM) and Planning, Labor Compliance, Apprenticeship Readiness Program, Social Equity (Title VI and Environmental Justice), and finally the external programs of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Emily Weiss graduated from Florida State with a degree in English. After several internships in various cities Emily found her way to HR via a temp to perm recruiting role in Denver in 2012. From there she moved to Chicago to gain more experience where she did HR for Groupon working in all aspects of the field from recruiting to benefits to terminations. Eventually she made her way to San Diego where she got hired by Paychex. Emily has now been with Paychex for 5 years helping clients navigate their way through the intricate, tangled web that is California HR.