 Erin Dunavant was born and raised in Southern California and will tell you that she "epitomizes what can be accomplished in your career through dedication and hard work". She began her career in project controls in the eighties at E&L Associates, a small engineering company, where she initially worked in accounts payable, payroll, and accounts receivables.
At E&L, she quickly established herself as a company asset and was promoted into the project controls department as an associate cost engineer. This experience sparked Erin's passion for communication and intrigued her to learn more and more about project controls. She loved the experience of working in her new role and worked hard to continually increase her experience by taking advantage of the new opportunities. These opportunities offered a variety of excellent learning experiences in cost engineering and scheduling.
Erin is currently the planning and scheduling manager at Brinderson Engineers and Constructors in Costa Mesa, California. Remembering the words from her first boss, “to succeed
in project controls, you need to be a very hard worker; it's not easy!”—Erin took those words to heart and the rest is history. She was introduced to AACE International in 2006, when invited to attend a local Southern California section dinner meeting. Erin could tell the Association was right up her alley and jumped in head first. She immediately joined the local Board of Directors and took responsibility for event planning. Serving as Events Director, Erin met many people, introduced speakers at meetings, learned valuable information from technical presentations, and shared this information with her managers and colleagues.
She became the AACE International "cheerleader"— talking to colleagues, getting them involved, helping them succeed, and improving project controls within her company. Through
this process, Erin was given the opportunity to announce association events at her department meetings each month.
She had a vision that all project controls people in her company should be certified and spearheaded an effort to have 30 people from her company sit for the certification exam at one time. This resulted in the highest certification exam turnout in the Southern California section recent history. Erin realized the fruit of her efforts when she was awarded last year's AACE International Southern California Section Service Award.
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Erin says AACE International membership has helped her career and given her access to an incredible network of project controls professionals and critical technical resources. She regularly takes advantage of the many opportunities listed on the AACE International website, like distance learning, technical committees, and forums. She appreciates having access to the technical articles, recommended practices, as well as the professional practice guides. Erin says, “getting involved in AACE International is truly rewarding and the opportunities are endless.” Erin had the opportunity to go to the 2008 Western Winter Workshop in Monterey, California. She says, “The networking opportunities were remarkable. I even met the AACE International President, Bill Kraus, and had dinner with him!”
Erin's current employer, Brinderson Engineering and Constructors, sent her to the AACE International Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada, where she continued to network and met more amazing professionals. She comments, “these kinds of events are fantastic and I was thrilled by the training opportunities and people I met.”
What Does Erin's Future Hold?
Since Erin accepted the challenge with Brinderson Engineering and Constructors, there have been many opportunities for growth and advancement. She firmly believes the opportunity
came her way because of her desire to succeed and help mentor others to achieve their career goals.
As the planning and scheduling manager at Brinderson Engineers & Constructors, Erin has the desire to mentor her staff. She is taking steps to ensure her staff is properly trained, mentored, and has opportunities to reach their career goals. Her goal for the coming year is to get all of her project controls staff certified through AACE International and active in the Southern California Section.
Erin's Advice for Other Women in Project Controls
“I encourage everyone to get involved in AACE International because this will help your career growth and provide you with many wonderful resources and opportunities along the way. Set career goals, get training and education, believe in yourself, move forward with confidence, step outside your comfort zone, take advantage of opportunities you are
given, seek mentors, and plow straight ahead with enthusiasm and you will get there.”
Article by Julie Owen PSP CCC
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