2021 Women in Construction: Krista Evans, Project Manager, Acella Construction Corp.

What was your greatest professional achievement or most notable project in the last 12 months? This past August we were approached by our long term client Northeastern University to complete a COVID-19 testing lab fit-out project on their Burlington Campus. This was a high priority project that had an original schedule of nine weeks shortened to four weeks. Everyone from the design team, to the client and subcontractors vigorously worked together, even working nights and weekends to get this lab completed within our aggressive schedule. This testing lab came at a crucial time when COVID-19 cases were spiking and thousands of students and staff members were being tested daily. This extra space allowed additional tests to be processed on a weekly basis, keeping students and staff safe.

How have you adapted and changed in the last 12 months? Prior to COVID-19 I was accustomed to having multiple weekly project meetings in the city which shifted to working from home and running all meetings remotely. This was a huge change to the way I did my job. On top of this, adapting to this pandemic with two little children has been a whirlwind. When daycares shut down but construction work continued, my life did not stop. I had to learn a new daily routine as a working mother. I had to learn balance between attending to my children’s needs and my work responsibilities.