Wendy Alvarez

Wendy Alvarez works as a laborer for a contractor that performs heavy highway demolition. In this role she breaks concrete, digs foundations while guiding machines and watching for utility lines, pours concrete for slabs, walls, and highway restoration, assists carpenters, and flags traffic when needed due to her flagger certificate. Her projects include demolition and restoration of highway bridges as well as construction of pedestrian bridges. Alvarez is bilingual in English and Spanish, allowing her to explain trade benefits to others, and she is a member of her union local. She volunteers twice a year at the Greater Food Depository with her family and runs a small business selling vintage children's clothing at markets. Alvarez attributes her drive to her four children, whom she wants to see her ambition as she provides for her family of six, and she enjoys mentoring others into the trades.