DAYTON, Ohio — Women in Roofing (WinR), a national organization focused on the empowerment of women within the roofing industry, will host a series of events at the 66th Midwest Roofing Contractor Association (MRCA) annual conference from Nov.10 – 13 in Kansas City, Mo. 

Kicking off the WinR events will be a breakfast from 7:30 – 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12, featuring Cindy Ryan, senior vice president and general counsel for Johns Manville. Ryan will share experiences from an amazing career that’s taken her from engineering at NASA to innovating the roofing industry at Johns Manville. She will also discuss how she implemented the concept of small mentoring groups at JM and the positive results for the organization. 

After the presentation, WinR will host its very first mentoring session for all breakfast participants. The group will break up into roundtable discussions to tackle relevant topics that women experience in today’s workplace, including gender bias, work-life balance, self-advocacy and allies, and mentoring. 

A WinR reception is scheduled from 5:30 - 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12 that will be a networking opportunity to meet women professionals from across the country. Mentorship Circle discussions will also be presented with an open forum of comments and shared stories.

The organization will wrap up its agenda with a presentation by the NRCA’s first female Chairman of the Board, Lindy Ryan, of Tecta America, from 9:45 - 10:45 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 13. Ryan will share details about her remarkable corporate and volunteer leadership tenure in a traditionally male-dominated industry. Her positive message of focusing on the job, not the gender, will offer a powerful management session for leaders who are developing talent across our rapidly diversifying industry.

For more information visit www.mrca.org or the WinR LinkedIn page at www.linkedin.com/company/women-in-roofing. Visit www.womeninroofing.com to register for the MRCA 2015 Conference.