Over 6,000 participants from North America gathered in Houston to celebrate progress and advancing opportunities for women in the building trades.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Thousands of tradeswomen, industry representatives, labor leaders, and allied organizations from across North America met in Houston, Texas, October 9–11 for the 2026 Tradeswomen Build Nations (TWBN) Conference, hosted by TradesFutures and with continued host sponsorship from North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU).
Under the theme “Breaking Barriers, Expanding Horizons,” the conference brought together unionized tradeswomen from across the United States and Canada for three days of education, professional development, networking, and collaboration. Plenary sessions, workshops and panel discussions celebrated women’s contributions to the building trades and explored ways to help more women enter, succeed and lead in the union construction industry.
NABTU President and TradesFutures Board Chair, Sean McGarvey said, “Tradeswomen are essential to the strength and future of our industry. NABTU is proud to whole heartedly support Tradeswomen Build Nations and remains steadfastly committed to ensuring women are respected and uplifted in our industry and have access to all the resources, opportunities, training, and support they need to build successful careers in the unionized construction trades.”
“Tradeswomen Build Nations shows what is possible when women have the opportunity to get started and the support to succeed,” said TradesFutures Executive Director Marina Zhavoronkova. “The women gathered in Houston are building our infrastructure, supporting their families and opening doors for the next generation. TradesFutures is proud to bring them together and work alongside our partners to strengthen pathways into quality union apprenticeships and lasting careers.”
Featured speakers included NABTU President Sean McGarvey; AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler; Megan Armstrong, president of Water Delivery at Kiewit; retired NASA astronaut Marsha Ivins; Ullico President and CEO Brian Hale; International Union of Operating Engineers General President John Downey; and SMART Director of Special Projects Louise Medina.
Throughout the conference, rank-and-file tradeswomen shared personal accounts of how onramp supportive programs, Registered Apprenticeships, and unionized construction careers changed their lives. Discussions highlighted workforce development, apprenticeship and training, physical safety, mental health and supportive jobsite cultures, emphasizing the opportunity and support women need to build lasting careers that sustain a middle-class life.
TradesFutures, NABTU and their partners will continue advancing apprenticeship readiness, recruitment, and retention efforts to help women enter and remain in the union construction workforce. The 2027 TWBN conference is scheduled for October 22-24, 2027, in Kansas City, Missouri.
For more photos, please click here.
Photo credits to Jake Hamm.
About TradesFutures: TradesFutures is a leading national non-profit organization dedicated to expanding pathways into union Registered Apprenticeships and family-sustaining construction careers. Our network of more than 200 Apprenticeship Readiness Programs works across 32+ states, teaches the award-winning Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (MC3), and removes barriers to opportunity. Through proven strategies, programs, and partnerships, TradesFutures connects workers to quality careers while helping meet the evolving workforce needs of the union construction industry. Learn more about the work of TradesFutures here.
About NABTU: North America’s Building Trades Unions is an alliance of 14 national and international unions in the building and construction industry that collectively represent over 3.2 million skilled craft professionals in the United States and Canada. Each year, our unions and signatory contractor partners invest over $2.5 billion in private-sector money to fund and operate over 1,900 apprenticeship training and education facilities across North America that produce the safest, most highly trained, and most productive skilled craft workers found anywhere in the world. NABTU is dedicated to creating economic security and employment opportunities for its construction workers by safeguarding wage and benefits standards, promoting responsible private capital investments, investing in renowned apprenticeship and training, and creating more construction career pathways to the middle class for women, communities of color, indigenous people, veterans, and the justice-involved. For more information, please visit nabtu.org.
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