WIC Week™, or Women in Construction Week™, celebrates and promotes the role of women in the construction industry. The National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) held the first WIC Week in 1998. It has grown and expanded each year since.
Like many recent graduates, Tanita Jha entered the job market eager to launch her career—even if the right path still felt like a mystery.
It was December 2017. She’d just graduated from San Jose State University with a bachelor’s in industrial & systems engineering, a versatile field primarily focused on process optimization and efficiency. Excited to begin putting her degree to use, she accepted a role with a small manufacturing company based in Scotts Valley that optimized the production of Driscoll’s fruit containers. However, it didn’t take long to realize manufacturing wasn’t for her.
Determined to find work she was passionate about, she began researching other options. Eventually, she landed a new role as an engineer managing San Jose International Airport’s (SJC) tenant improvement (TI) projects, including Chick-fil-A, Rip Curl, Tumi, and Club SJC—a Webcor project led by former Webcor Construction Manager Trace Pesavento.
As one year at SJC turned into two, she found herself growing increasingly fascinated by the construction process.
“I loved the idea of seeing the before-and-after of a space and knowing all the work that goes into delivering it,” she says. “Slowly, I realized I was falling in love with construction.”
Thrilled to have discovered a career that truly felt right, Tanita decided to fully commit. If she truly wanted to become the most competent and effective owner’s rep she could be, she’d need more experience on the construction side.
She reached out to Trace, with whom she’d been working on the SJC Club TI, about potential opportunities at Webcor. She was ready to transition from the owner’s side and fully immerse herself in the construction world.
In September 2019, Tanita officially joined Webcor as a senior project engineer. She started out in the San Jose corporate office, where she planned to support Preconstruction/Estimating until her assigned construction project began. Six months later, COVID shut down all offices and halted several projects, putting her long-awaited plans to transition to a project on hold.
“I stayed in Estimating for quite awhile,” Tanita says. “I eventually moved to a project site in February 2021—nearly a year after COVID hit.
Her first Webcor project was none other than the audiology lab renovation at SJSU, where she’d graduated just three years earlier. At the audiology project, she helped build a copper-lined room in preparation for the lab’s Faraday cage, which was designed to block all electrical noise and radio frequencies. “To this day, building that copper-lined room at SJSU is one of my proudest accomplishments!”
Little did Tanita know, it wouldn’t be her last time building at her alma mater. Shortly after completing the audiology lab renovation, she was assigned to SJSU’s Spartan Athletics Center (SAC) project—the new home for the university’s Spartan football and men’s/women’s soccer teams. Just two months into her time on SAC, she was promoted to assistant project manager.
“I’m still so proud of our team for completing the SAC on time and on budget!” Tanita says. “We even received the Safety award at Webcor’s 2023 holiday party. I was involved with that project from the pre-bid meeting all the way through final completion, so it’s super special to me.”
Tanita’s growing technical expertise, exceptional collaboration skills, and unwavering desire to learn are just a few of the reasons Project Manager, Drywall Jerry Yap loved working with her at SAC.
“Tanita managed difficult scopes while maintaining amicable relationships with subcontractor project managers and field staff,” he says. “Webcor Drywall benefited from her coordination and site observation, specifically with exterior glazing. She’s extremely easy to work with and definitely a valuable resource.
“It’s been impressive to witness Tanita’s growth in knowledge as she’s transitioned from senior project engineer to project manager. She’s highly knowledgeable but always willing to learn. From P6 to change order management, she’s done it all. I’m excited to see what the future holds for her at Webcor!”
Currently, Tanita’s a project manager at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC) Behavioral Health Services Center (BHSC)—her first project regulated by the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI). Navigating HCAI’s stringent requirements, as well as the complexities unique to all healthcare projects, has been one of the most challenging but valuable experiences of her career.
While on SCVMC BHSC, Tanita also tackled the responsibility of managing framing and drywall for the first time. “It was a huge challenge but ended up being really fun,” she says. “I’m so thankful to work with such a great team!”
It’s easy to look at someone like Tanita—someone who’s built an exemplary resume just eight years into her career and forged valuable relationships with teammates and leaders who can’t stop singing her praises—and see someone who’s always known exactly what they’re doing. But Tanita’s not afraid to admit she’s made her fair share of mistakes on the job.
Advancing from a senior PE learning the construction basics to a PM managing the complexities of a fast-paced, highly regulated healthcare project wouldn’t have been possible without Tanita’s Webcor mentors. For her, these relationships have been the most gratifying part of her evolving career at Webcor.
“These last five years have been quite a journey, and I wouldn’t give it up for the world,” she says. “So many people here have been kind to me and patiently taught me how to be a better builder. Special shout-out to Carpenter Lead Foreman Jeff Eberle, Construction Manager Terry Goforth, Vice President Tolga Acar, Vice President Craig Blinston, Project Director Mark Delgado, Project Director Matt Mrizek, Estimating Manager, Drywall James Osborne, Project Director Ryan Priest, and Project Director Jazlyn Carvajal, among several others.”
Jazlyn recalls Tanita warmly welcoming her to Webcor in December 2019, shortly after she’d moved from New Jersey to the Bay Area. She was touched by Tanita’s genuine efforts to help her settle into not just Webcor but San Jose, as well as the time she took to introduce her to new colleagues, show her around the office, and support her transition however she could.
“Tanita connects extremely well with colleagues, making everyone feel included and appreciated,” Jazlyn says. “Her positivity and dedication are inspiring. She’s a quick learner and great communicator who excels at her job while ensuring the office is an enjoyable place.
“I’m so proud of her growth over the last five years. She’s proven herself as a leader, effectively managing people and her workload. She’s brilliant, hardworking, and fun while gracefully balancing her job, Webcor activities, and personal life.”
Managing Webcor activities on top of her project responsibilities has become an unofficial side job of Tanita’s. Community-oriented events she’s organized for Webcor include:
“I’ve always loved supporting our internal and external community engagement efforts,” she says. “It’s been a great way to meet new Webcorians, strengthen Webcor’s employee culture, and give back to our neighbors."
