Her Story
About Kara
Kara Riker serves as Director of Operations at Dharam Consulting, where she leads building operations, site logistics, and physical site security teams supporting a large-scale hyperscale data center build. With 12 years of experience in project and operations management, she brings expertise in operational excellence, project delivery, risk mitigation, schedule management, and cross-functional leadership. Riker entered the construction industry in 2014 as a material handler with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), following an earlier background in medicine and years dedicated to raising and homeschooling her six children. She progressed from an administrative assistant role supporting a sheet metal team to project coordinator and project manager positions, ultimately advancing to the owner-developer side of the industry.
Throughout her career, Riker has managed a diverse portfolio of complex construction projects, including numerous airport renovations, a semiconductor facility in Arizona, and large-scale hyperscale data centers, which have become a primary area of specialization in recent years. Her experience spans project management, document control, permitting, logistics, physical security, commissioning, closeout, and operational readiness. She has also demonstrated a strong commitment to advancing women in the construction industry, serving as a keynote speaker for Women in Construction Week before an audience of more than 175 women. Riker's professional development includes Project Management and Leading Remote Teams and Organizational Leadership certificate programs through Cornell University, as well as certifications in NFPA 70E and Procore Project Administration.
Riker's leadership philosophy is grounded in resilience, service, curiosity, and the belief that people thrive when they are encouraged to recognize and develop their strengths. She credits her parents with instilling the resilience and adaptability that have shaped her career; her father served as a Chief Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, while her mother, an immigrant from England and Ireland, established a counseling clinic in Washington State. Outside of her professional work, Riker serves on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star and participates in volunteer recruitment, volunteers at a rescue horse ranch, and has contributed to mission-building projects in Africa, India, Mexico, Haiti, and Cuba. Her advice to young women entering construction is to remain curious, ask questions, establish clear goals, and pursue them with determination. She encourages women to view challenges as opportunities to grow, emphasizing that the future is shaped by the choices they make and that setbacks can become valuable opportunities to learn.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kara
01What do you attribute your success to?
My parents raised me to be very resilient and very agile, always strive upwards. My father was a Chief Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. My mother was an immigrant from England and Ireland who put herself through school and created a counseling clinic in Washington State. They always said you can do anything, you're the only one that's gonna stop you.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Be curious, ask questions, find out everything about what you're going after. Figure out what your goal is, and then work toward that goal. Don't take no as an answer. The future is what you're going to make it. There's no fail, you either win or you learn.
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