Award of Excellence Winner Judaline Cassidy: Empowering Girls to Consider Careers in Construction

Award of Excellence Winner Judaline Cassidy: Empowering Girls to Consider Careers in ConstructionMarch 26, 2026Award of Excellence Winner Judaline Cassidy: Empowering Girls to Consider Careers in ConstructionMarch 26, 2026Waves graphic by Getty Images/Northern Owl; crown by Getty Images/Tetiana Lazunova; Photo by Bruce Buckley for ENRJennifer SewardTalentWorkforceConstruction InclusionTop 25 Newsmakers2025 ✕ Related Link: Top 25 Newsmakers Recap On her first day of work as a bona fide New York City plumber, Judaline Cassidy, then 25, rolled up to her first construction site in her red Jeep Cherokee with the seat jacked all the way up to accommodate her petite 4 ft, 11 “and-seven-eighths” in. frame. She reached for her power seat controls and slowly lowered herself down, while the crew stopped and stared. When she climbed out and introduced herself as the plumber, all she heard was laughter. At her. The foreman, Jimmy Nunzio, took one look at her and said something to the effect of, “There’s no way you’re the ****ing plumber,” Cassidy says. “Then he told me to go home.” Determined to put her hard-earned skills into practice, Cassidy made a deal with Nunzio: “Give me one day, and if you don’t like my work, you don’t have to pay me,” she told him. Nunzio took the bet, and by the end of the shift he not only liked her work, but he also hired her full-time, making Cassidy the first female plumber at Duo Heating and Plumbing. That wasn’t the first time she struggled to be taken ...