Her Story
About Elizabeth
Elizabeth Letourneau is an accomplished safety management professional with over 20 years of experience in the construction industry, currently serving as an Area Safety Manager at Austin Commercial, a leading general contractor specializing in higher education and healthcare projects. Based in the Greater Houston area, she provides strategic safety leadership across complex, high-profile construction sites, ensuring compliance, risk mitigation, and a strong culture of safety excellence. Throughout her tenure, she has contributed to industry-leading safety performance and supported teams in achieving best-in-class results on major projects.
Her career path into safety management has been both diverse and nontraditional. She began her academic journey studying paralegal work before shifting her focus following marriage and the start of her family. Early in her career, she worked with an industrial chemical company in Mexico as a safety distributor, gaining foundational experience in industrial safety operations. When her daughter was three years old, she returned to school and completed a Certificate of Technology, building the academic foundation that supported her transition into formal safety management roles. Since then, she has advanced her career while raising four children, steadily growing her expertise across multiple sectors of the construction industry.
Elizabeth is known for her collaborative and people-centered leadership style, often describing her approach as “disruptive construction,” where challenging conversations ultimately lead to stronger, safer outcomes. She takes pride in guiding teams at all levels from seasoned industry veterans to early-career project managers bridging experience with fresh perspective. Committed to continuous growth, she actively participates in industry associations and training to stay current with evolving safety standards. Recently completing her associate’s degree, she is now pursuing her bachelor’s degree within the next year, reinforcing her belief that ongoing education strengthens credibility and enhances the ability to lead and support others effectively.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Elizabeth
01What do you attribute your success to?
Obviously, many different things drive me. In my work, it's the well-being of sending people home safely - my dad was a blue collar worker at a shipyard, and I knew of his challenges. When his team members got hurt, he'd come home and share those stories. This was before I was even in safety, but just seeing him tired and knowing we were still expecting him home really shaped my purpose. But my kids have always been my biggest drive. I've gone through several relationships, and they've always been my priority. It's always been about being able to provide for them without counting on anyone else. I've always thought, I gotta get more, I gotta be more, because I gotta make more so I can keep providing and offer them more. That's been my biggest drive throughout my career.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think there would be more women in construction if they just knew how much fun it could be. My biggest proof is my own daughter - she decided to get her degree in safety management as well, and she's actively working for my competitor as a safety manager. She's 5 years into her career, and I don't have any more living proof of the impact that we can make in what we do. When people ask me why I didn't hire my daughter, I tell them no, she needs to make her own self. She needs to build her own individual self and go through her own phases, and she doesn't need anyone to tell her that mommy got you here. She's making her own path. It's overwhelmingly satisfying that I see her do the things I did 20 years ago - going into associations, supporting efforts, fundraising, doing things for charity. I used to bring her with me to projects and activities when she was growing up, so now that she gets to be a part of the National Association of Women in Construction herself, she knows the people that run it just because she grew up with them.
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