On Wednesday, June 9, WTS-LA hosted a moderated panel discussion on the challenges women in leadership roles face while working on Mega Projects. An all-star panel comprised of Sharon Gookin, Project Director of LINXS Constructors; Stephanie Leslie, Project Management at Metro; and Hanna Dergham, Area Construction Manager at Caltrans discussed their experience managing Mega Projects with moderator Christi Fu of Arcadis. 

According to the Oxford Handbook of Mega Project Management, Mega Projects are defined as “large-scale, complex ventures that typically cost $1 billion or more, take many years to develop and build, involve multiple public and private stakeholders, are transformational, and impact millions of people." The extraordinary women on our panel are no strangers on what it takes to deliver these projects.

All three women currently manage Mega Projects in Los Angeles County: 

• Sharon Gookin, PE leads the design-build team in the construction of the Automated People Mover (APM) project for LAX. The APM is an electric train system on a 2.25-mile elevated guideway with six stations in and outside of LAX’s Central Terminal Area. 
• Stephanie Leslie, PE is LA Metro’s Deputy Executive Officer for the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project. When complete, this project will extend light rail transit 8.5 miles from the existing Metro E Line (Expo) at Crenshaw and Exposition Boulevards and merge with Metro C Line (Green) at the Aviation/LAX station on Aviation Boulevard and I-105.
• Hanna Dergham, PE manages the Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project in the city of Long Beach. The newly opened bridge now spans the Port of Long Beach’s Back Channel with a deck rising 205 feet above the water and includes additional traffic lanes, a higher clearance to accommodate larger cargo ships, and a dedicated bicycle path and pedestrian walkway.

Gookin, Leslie, and Dergham are blazing the trail for women in leadership roles on Mega Projects not only in Los Angeles, but throughout the country. WTS-LA looks forward to seeing what comes next for our panelists and the women that follow in their footsteps.