NEST, Chief Executive Officer
Women in HVACR, Treasurer & Atlas Electrical, Air Conditioning, Ref, and Plumbing Serv Inc, Owner/President
Starbucks, Director of Construction, US Licensed Stores
Explore the Trades, Executive Director
Director of Construction & Design for Floor & Decor
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
As CEO, Rob leads a team of nearly 250+ employees who partner with more than 26,000 independent service providers to manage 60,000+ retail locations and multi-site businesses across North America. Before being named the Chief Executive Officer in 2015, Rob held several positions throughout his 20-year career at NEST. He has led the charge to develop industry-leading software solutions for NEST’s clients and service providers. His strong desire for a great workplace culture has allowed the organization to see double-digit percentage growth each year since becoming CEO. Rob earned his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and graduated from St. Joseph’s University MBA program. He is currently on the Saint Joseph’s Board of Visitors and a member of the university’s advisory board of the Department of Decision & System Sciences. He also sits on the board for his high school alma mater Paul VI in South Jersey.
Explore the Trades, Executive Director
Kate Cinnamo has served as Executive Director of Explore The Trades since 2017. Working with residential service companies and key industry vendors, Kate has led Explore The Trades to a singular focus – to bring plumbing, HVAC, and electrical trades career possibilities directly to students and educators. Explore The Trades has distributed skilled trades-focused content to over 1,900 schools in the U.S. and Canada, impacting more than 345,000 students from elementary through high school. Kate works with contractors and schools in communities around the country to help establish talent pipelines and created an industry-to-school partnership which has equipped 14 schools in the U.S. with plumbing and HVAC equipment since 2022.
Kate is a founding member of STAC and lives in Lakeville, Minnesota, with her husband and two children.
Women in HVACR, Treasurer & Atlas Electrical, Air Conditioning, Ref, and Plumbing Serv Inc, Owner/President
Sarah Hammond is the President of Atlas Electric and Air Conditioning, Refrigeration and Plumbing Services, Inc., a company located in Alton. Atlas Electric & Air Conditioning is over 40 year family business that has been in operation since January 1983. In December 2017 she graduated with a certificate in Scaling Business from Stanford University Graduate of School of Business. She also holds a paralegal certificate and worked with an attorney for 17 years and holds a finance degree and a real estate degree from A&M. She has her own dba Financial Solutions and is a partner with Intentionally BridgeIt, an organization that spear heads, women business owner. She also oversees management of Hummingbird Trailer Park, which is a winter Texan park for her family that is over 30 years old. She further manages rental Alton X-Plex and other real estate and have invested in other entrepreneur ideas.
Sarah maintains an active role in the community on behalf of Atlas and serves on several boards. Her passion is to help women grow business and speaks on this issue across several platforms. She has served on National, Texas and several local boards. She is a graduate of Leadership Texas 2020. She was published in 100 Words / 100 Women by South Texas College. And published in the McAllen Chamber Magazine, Woman2Woman, and I am Latino Magazine. She also has a chapter in the book UPWARD, a book on leadership for women. She was also featured in the Special Edition of the Amazons Watch Magazine as one of the top 20 global women to watch.
She has spoken on international platforms, and conferences as a guest speaker. Although business and community involvement are important and part of her mission for her self-growth, what brings most happiness to Sarah is her family. She is married to Coach Marty Hammond and together they have three strong daughters. She has lived here in the valley most of her life and married her husband from Alabama who settled here and has coached arena football and currently is still coaching.
Starbucks, Director of Construction, US Licensed Stores
Sara Angus is the Director of Construction, US Licensed Stores at Starbucks. She has over 25 years of construction industry experience. She has worked on retail, commercial, educational, hospitality, institutional, non-profit and residential projects at all levels of design and construction. Prior to joining Starbucks in 2019 she worked as a Project Executive at Lease Crutcher Lewis, focusing on large commercial tenant improvements. She was a lecturer in the Construction Management Program at the University of Washington for over 15 years. She is a board member for Women Leaders in Construction.
Davita Kidney Care, Senior Director, Capital Programs
Mónica Muñoz is the Sr. Director, Capital Programs at DaVita Kidney Care. She oversees all capital reinvestment to improve operating clinics across the country, including renovations, programmatic asset replacements and rollouts.
Her career of 25 years involves the entire lifecycle of a physical asset, from its birth through design and planning to construction and maintenance. Monica’s leadership strengths help organizations identify unfulfilled business needs and
seek the best path to address them. In more recent years, she has also been developing programs to optimize project execution and portfolio oversight in various multisite environments.
Mrs. Muñoz previously spent time as a consultant and has worked domestically and internationally in various industries including Corporate, Retail and Healthcare.
Mónica is passionate about partnerships, cross functional team engagement, and the future of the skilled trades. She is a registered Interior Designer in the state of Texas.
NAWIC Phila. Foundation/GEM Mechanical Services, NAWIC Phila.
Mary Gaffney is President and owner of a family-owned mechanical contracting business GEM Mechanical Services. GEM installs and maintains mechanical and plumbing systems for commercial clients in Philadelphia and surrounding counties, and northern Delaware. The Company also provides mechanical service work for existing customers and holds building maintenance contracts. GEM Mechanical is nationally certified as a Women Owned Business Enterprise (WBENC), and federally certified as a Women Owned Small Business (WOSB).
Mary’s background and experience includes 38 years of project management experience ($25K to $50 Million in size), construction management, AutoCAD/Revit, and computer services. She is passionate about sharing her business and construction knowledge with young women. She is honored to be involved in the NAWIC Philadelphia Foundation MyWIC camp each year that provides a free educational experience for girls to learn about the local trades and businesses.
Mary also enjoys working on the committee for a block building competition called Block Kids. The competition is for students in 1st through 6th Grade. Block Kids is a national program where the winner of the local competition advances on to the Eastern Regional competition, with a potential to be entered into the National competition.
PMA Construction, General Contractor/Owner
Kam Washington, the esteemed Owner and President of PMA Construction Company, boasts an impressive track record of over 15 years in the construction industry. As the proud steward of a flourishing and dynamic general contracting enterprise, Kam’s unwavering passion for construction and her steadfast commitment to excellence form the bedrock of her ability to provide unparalleled services spanning every facet of the construction process.
As the visionary founder of PMA Construction, Kam has dedicated herself wholeheartedly to comprehending and actively engaging in every facet of the construction lifecycle. Her profound dedication extends to daily hands-on training on-site, aimed at cultivating individuals from diverse backgrounds and ushering them into the realm of construction.
Kam Washington’s commitment radiates particularly brightly in her mission to empower both women and men hailing from a wide spectrum of backgrounds with the indispensable knowledge and skills requisite for the construction industry. This dedication serves as a transformative pathway, enabling innovative thinkers to collaborate and contribute to our collective commitment to perpetual advancement within the industry.
Toofetch.com
Owner
Andrew Brown is a passionate entrepreneur, co-founder, and CEO of Toolfetch.com, driving the company’s success for 23 years. His vision led to the creation of a groundbreaking e-commerce platform catering to skilled trades professionals after a life changing event on 9/11 2001. Beyond his role as a CEO, Andrew is a fervent advocate for skilled trades, supporting initiatives that empower tradespeople and raise awareness about their importance. His unwavering commitment continues to shape the industry and bring about lasting change in the lives of countless individuals.
Director, Design & Construction, Floor & Decor Outlets of America, Atlanta, GA
Julie Starzynski has 20 years of experience in retail design and construction across the United States, an experience that spans from small box retailers to large box retailers, managing various sized teams, and executing in fast paced environments. Julie started her career in 2003 at the TJX Companies in Framingham, MA, working her way from a Store Planner to Senior Store Planning Development Specialist across all their brands. After leaving TJX in 2012, she accepted a position at Carter’s | Oshkosh B’gosh, based in Atlanta, GA as Store Planning Manager overseeing store planning and signage. In 2017, Julie accepted a new position with Floor & Decor as the sole Construction Design Manager for the entire United States, a new role on their construction team. In 2019, Julie was promoted to Director, Construction Design & Entitlements and her current role, Director, Design & Construction in 2022. Along with these roles, she owned her own company from 2007 to 2013, Star Design and Training, which specialized in AutoCAD training and interior design solutions. She also was an active member of the Retail Design Institute from 2003 – 2014; 2022 – Present serving roles as Vice President, Boston Chapter (2010 – 2012), International Treasurer (2012 – 2014) and Treasurer, Atlanta | Southeast Chapter. She is also an active member of the Buildpoint Advisory Board since 2021. Julie currently resides in Metro Atlanta and enjoys spending time with her dog, Roxy, running, and spending time with family and friends
