Amber Page was raised by a carpenter, but she didn’t initially enter the construction field.
“I worked in aviation for a number of years and got really burnt out,” she said. “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I started working for Skanska, a construction company. I knew about them because they were building all the airports I was working in.”
Page started as the receptionist at Skanska, but she worked and earned her way into the small business outreach coordinator role, which included elements of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Her boss for that position mentored her and encouraged her to run with her ideas for reaching the community and small, minority-owned businesses. That led to a position in DEI compliance for the Portland Port Authority then to her current position as DEI specialist for Fortis Construction.
“I oversee the implementation of small business development programs that give small businesses tools and educational opportunities to help them succeed on construction contracts,” she said. “I also work as the liaison internally to help connect the small businesses to our decision-makers in-house to help them be issued those contracts.”
When it comes to DEI efforts at Fortis, and construction more generally, Page views the efforts as making sure there is space for everybody at the table.
“[The Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs] has a slogan that many of us have adopted, which is ‘everybody’s in, nobody’s out,’” she said. “There is space at the table for everybody, and it doesn’t mean that we’re taking any plates away. We’re just adding chairs to the team.”
Fortis is above industry standards with the number of women the company employs, and Page said the company is “working very diligently to create an environment that is conducive to making everybody welcome and comfortable and safe within the construction industry, from the field to the office.”
Page said Fortis is working with other organizations on awareness, education and policy implementation, including Rise Up, which works to advance gender equity and justice, and the Safe From Hate Alliance, which is comprised of people at all levels of the trades who are committed to addressing harmful construction jobsite culture that contributes to the attrition of skilled craft workers from the industry, particularly women and people of color.
“Awareness without action is bullshit,” Page said. “I feel like there’s a lot of awareness around these systemic issues, but there’s not a lot of action. When I look at issues and things that can be corrected or improved, I see things as a puzzle. How do we move the pieces to create a better world and take the action one step further than awareness?”
Page works with local high schools to showcase the construction industry to young people. Several years ago, she hosted a job walk with a school with many students in poverty and a second with Girls Inc., a national leadership program for girls ages six to 18. The job walks enable students to see the full range of job available in construction, from craft workers to project managers to architect to superintendents.
Outside of work, Page said she is “the busiest person I’ve ever met.” She is president of a Vespa club; she found a scooter in a dumpster and fully restored it to be street legal. She loves archaeology and anthropology, which plays into her love of community development. She is also working to complete her bachelor’s degree in urban and public affairs.
