Janis, a crusader for women and minorities: Lenore Janis, president Professional Women in Construction.

It was 1980, and the women's movement was in full swing. A dozen determined women, waiting impatiently for the construction industry to enter the age of enlightenment, joined forces to form Professional Women in Construction (PWC), an advocacy and support organization dedicated to the advancement of professional, managerial and entrepreneurial women in the industry. One of the founders of PWC was Lenore Janis, then the owner of a small steel erection company, newly certified by government as a women-owned business enterprise (WBE).

"We weren't feeling very liberated," says Janis now. "Apparently the financial and business communities hadn't heard about equality of the sexes and the construction industry was contesting Affirmative Action rulings."

Before the year was over, the pioneering women had hosted a well-attended two-day convention in New York City on industry issues affecting--and stonewalling--women. Janis and PWC members began lobbying in Albany to establish stated goals for the participation of women in publicly funded projects. In 1983, the then newly elected Governor of New York State, Mario Cuomo, set a WBE goal of 5%, and his administration became actively involved in enforcing the laws.

Today Janis is the president of PWC, a widely respected nonprofit, incorporated industry association that counts over 10,000 constituents in its database. It has attracted

Governors, mayors, members of congress, borough presidents, attorney generals, countless commissioners as well as CEOs and other leaders of private industry to its monthly networking sessions, trade fairs, all-day golf outings, awards receptions, W/MBE workshops and breakfast seminars. Each event draws capacity to overflowing crowds of women and men.

"We started giving men full membership status in 1985," says Janis. One of the longtime male members, Rudy Rinaldi, a former government official who is presently a consultant to the design and construction industry, says, "Lenore Janis has made PWC into the best networking organization in the construction industry."

PWC members and supporters represent diverse fields including construction, architecture, engineering, environmental services, and real estate development, as well as the many supply and service companies that sell to the industry. Janis, on behalf of PWC, serves on the board of the New York Women's Agenda, is a member of New York Building Congress, the National Minority Business Council, Greater New York Construction User Council and the National Council of Women. She was recently inducted as a member of the General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen (founded in 1785)

It is Janis' passion for the cause that has propelled the organization's phenomenal growth for nearly a quarter of a century.

Born and raised in a family that ran a successful steel fabricating plant and erection firm headquartered in Peekskill, New York, Janis joined the business in the early 1970s as a single mother raising two small sons. "I was Janey-come-lately to this industry and learned on-the-job. For years, I was the only woman attending various industry functions and often mistaken for someone who must be in the interior decoration business," she says.

Lured by the career potential in the industry which the new Affirmative Action rulings of the government encouraged, Janis braved the odds and launched her own business in 1979. "I called it ERA Steel Construction. I was naive--I thought the Equal Rights Amendment would pass," says Janis.

Initially rejected by major banks, ERA obtained a women's mini-loan of $25,000 from U.S. Small Business Administration to keep it afloat, and successfully completed contracts for many projects with various state and federal agencies. Yet Janis' work for the public sector ultimately enticed her to enter its realm.

In 1986, under the Koch administration, she became the first woman director of the Bureau of Building Management for the New York City Department of Sanitation (DOS). Janis, who was in charge of 250 tradesmen, counts among her successes at the agency the implementation and direction of a multi-million dollar project to install women's locker rooms for new and future women hired by the DOS.

In the early 1990s, Janis directed special projects for the Mayor's Office of Construction under David N. Dinkins. Since 1995, she has devoted herself fulltime to expanding the reach and activities of PWC.

An accomplished speaker and author, Janis has presented papers for the International Cost Engineering Conference in Paris and New York and written columns for trade papers and a chapter on "Women in Construction" for a book, Construction in Cities (CRC Press). She has received recognition from the Association for Women in Communications; the American ORT (Real Estate and Construction Industry Division), the NYC Chapter of NOW, and CSI (Con struction Specifications Institute--NY).

An alumna of Bennington College who received her bachelor's degree from the University of Connecticut at Storrs, Janis continued her technical studies at the Mechanics Institute in New York City and at industry seminars.

Those who have worked with her and have benefited from PWC's programs are eager to trumpet her praise.

"Lenore is one of the original mentors to women in our industry in an overall sense, and has shown the way to hundreds of professionals," says Nancy Czesak, vice president of Tishman Construction Corporation, and a former PWC honoree. "She is one of the most persistent, focused, and charismatic people I know."

Lina Gottesman, president of Altus Metal and Marble Maintenance (a WBE) and a PWC board member and longtime active member and supporter says, " Lenore's passion for helping women in construction and wanting to help me was extremely encouraging. I will be forever grateful for the relationships I have developed with the help of Lenore and PWC."

Andy Frankl, president and CEO of IBEX Construction and a PWC board member says, "Lenore Janis is one of the leading dynamo's in our industry on women's behalf.... [She has had a great] influence ... by creating an organization supporting and granting empowerment to many hard working, brilliant women. For a long time construction was a man's world, but women are coming into their own and rightly so. "

Patricia Lancaster, the current commissioner of the 'New York City Department of Buildings, says, "Lenore Janis has been growing her organization in leaps and bounds over the years. She has immense contacts throughout the industry, and has made strategic alliances with other industry associations that enhance PWC's effectiveness."

Is Janis optimistic about the future of women in construction? "Yes--but cautiously so.

"A few remarkable and accomplished women have managed to break through the concrete ceiling and now head up large and mid-sized construction and architectural firms. Women engineers, architects, and project managers are out in full view in growing numbers. There are many more small business owners--in fact construction is the fastest-growing women-owned business.

"But we still represent a fraction of the industry, and the public perception continues to be that construction is an atypical arena for women. Young women remain reluctant to pursue careers in what I consider to be one of the most vibrant and exciting industries.

"The pay is good and, if you have nerves of steel, the financial rewards of ownership are great.

"And PWC will be behind the women who dare every step of the way."