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Building Community in Construction, Featuring Marcela Restrepo
For Marcela Restrepo, construction has always been about more than schedules and structures. It’s about people, communities, and the stories that unfold through every project.
Her journey into construction began on a high school trip to Princeton University, where she discovered her passion for urban planning and building. Today, Restrepo serves as a Senior Project Manager with Reeves Young’s Commercial Construction team in Nashville, leading complex projects while mentoring the next generation of construction professionals.
Marcela Restrepo, a Colombia native, came to the United States as a high school exchange student. During a field trip to Princeton University, she had the chance to explore urban planning and building through the simulation game SimCity. That moment sparked the beginning of the rest of her career. From that day forward, she knew she would become a civil engineer.
Like all careers, hers is not free of trials and tribulations. However, she has loved it all, even through its ups and downs. Restrepo says, “What keeps me here is that there is a tangible result, and as hard and demanding as it can be, every project is its own story in and of itself, and every one of those stories is another chapter in my life story.”
She explains, “All the challenges, long days, relationships and exciting moments make it all worthwhile, and it is a wonderful feeling to be part of a project from start to finish.”
When Restrepo started her career in New York City, she was the youngest person on the projects and the only woman. In “the place where ‘if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere,’” she knew no one would just hand it to her.
To make her mark on the city, she knew she had to be more prepared, more committed, and more involved than her peers. She says, “I always took the time to meet everyone on the projects and listen to all the stories and experiences that they wanted to share.” Those relationships became the foundation of her leadership style.
Over the years, Restrepo adopted being a mentor as a part of her career. Mentorship became something meaningful and important to her. “I have taken many young people under my wing, and they have moved up to become successful project managers,” she says. “I have watched their careers take off and most of them are life friends outside of work.”
Even today, Restrepo still receives calls from former mentees sharing updates about their careers and successes. Her mentorship style focuses on helping young professionals build confidence in the industry. Rather than leaving people to figure things out on their own, she walks them through processes step by step so they understand what matters most and why. She also emphasizes the importance of building strong personal relationships on the jobsite so team members feel comfortable asking questions.
“You are a leader when you keep your team informed, set expectations, and hold them accountable,” Restrepo explains. “And you do this with a positive attitude and the goal of empowering them to succeed.” She believes a great project manager must be detail-oriented, organized, fair, honest, and knowledgeable. But true leadership requires something more.
“A great leader is also approachable and personable,” she says. “They connect with their team and treat trade partners and colleagues with respect.”
The defining moment in Restrepo’s career was when she looked around the project staff meeting of the Bronx Point and home of the Universal Hip Hop Museum project in New York City only to realize that she was the leader of the room. She was no longer the young woman learning the ropes; she was now the expert. “I realized I was the adult in the room,” she recalls. “I had the experience, the years in the industry, and the answers.” It was then that she realized that she, alone, had the capability and responsibility to take these young people and craft them into construction professionals.
Throughout her more than 20 years in construction, Restrepo has seen the industry evolve—especially in the growing presence of women in the field. In 2006, women made up just over 8% of the construction workforce (Zhao, 2025). In 2025, that number has risen to 11.3%, an increase of 3.3 percentage points (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). Still, representation in leadership remains limited. As of 2025, women hold only 18% of leadership positions in the industry.
“There is still a long way to go,” Restrepo says. “But when I started my career, I was the only woman on the projects.”
By the time she left New York City, that had changed dramatically. “I was on a project where the only male in the Owner, Architect, Contractor meetings was the superintendent,” she says.
Much of Restrepo’s career has been dedicated to affordable housing projects, work she finds especially meaningful. “I always felt a profound sense of accomplishment giving back to the community,” she says.
Today, she continues that passion through involvement with Nashville’s Young Leaders Council program, which focuses on affordable housing initiatives. She hopes to one day serve on the organization’s board of directors.
Outside of work, Restrepo enjoys spending time outdoors, sharing laughs with friends and family, and going on date nights with her husband Peter, who she proudly describes as a phenomenal chef.
Sources
https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18.htm
https://blog.bluebeam.com/women-in-construction-2026-data-jobsite-reality/
