2023 Women in Construction: Lee Sullivan, Lion’s Head Cost Consultants, Inc.

What made you interested in seeking a career in the AEC industry? As a child, I built towers with wooden blocks and LEGOs. I made dams of mossy rocks to test water power in the brook. My grandmother fed my curiosity, pointing out mansard roofs and the difference between Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns. Later, my freshman roommate’s intro-engineering classes at Lafayette College caught my eye, so I switched into the engineering studies program. Curiosity drives me: I wanted to understand structures and soils mechanics. Summer internships provided hands-on experience as a surveyor, which led to my first job as a field engineer with Turner Construction. Curiosity made me seek my career path.

How are you involved in community organizations and/or charities? Affordable housing is a crisis. The rural Northwest Corner of Connecticut attracts red-tailed hawks, white-tailed deer, black bears, and wealthy New Yorkers in search of habitation. According to realtor.com, “The median listing home price in Salisbury, CT, was $1.1 million in February 2023, trending up 67.5% year-over-year.” Young people who grew up here cannot afford to stay, and workers in our local businesses and schools suffer long commutes. I was appointed to the Salisbury Affordable Housing Commission this year. I am happy that my decades in preconstruction give me skills to support the organizations building and renting affordable homes in Salisbury.