BuildHer Leadership Summit 2026 Recap

This year, our BuildHer 2026 Leadership Summit was held in the beautiful jungles of Costa Rica. We’ve held this event in this same location for the past three years, and once again, Costa Rica didn’t disappoint.

Being a woman in construction is a unique experience filled with challenges amid an ever-changing landscape, and we were honored to meet so many women who are currently shaping the construction industry with grit, talent, grace, and intelligence.

If you’re a professional woman in the building industry struggling to feel seen and supported, the BuildHer Leadership Summit is the perfect venue to sharpen tactical tools and refine your business strategies. Progress happens when we come together to network and learn from each other. 

Morning presentations focused on themes of leadership and negotiation skills, setting goals and the power of strategic networking, Google stories and the power of SEO through Pinterest (yes, PINTEREST!), followed by roundtable discussions by industry leaders like Becky Hines and Tayna Cromwell.

This leadership summit is not all work and no play. We truly embraced each afternoon’s “brain break” and dedicated it to recharging and forming meaningful connections. This year, our group enjoyed horseback riding, a catamaran cruise, yoga on the beach, mindfulness and meditation exercises, and even the occasional nap or massage thrown in for good measure. 

The BuildHer Leadership Summit is a first-of-its-kind leadership event and was designed to serve women executives in all aspects of the building industry–from entrepreneurs and business owners to designers and architects–we serve women working in residential, commercial, and everything in between.

See the highlights here: 

Why Events Like BuildHer Are Vital for Professional Women in Building

As the construction industry evolves, especially in the luxury homes market, it creates a pocket where women can use their technical and design expertise to make an impact. Events like BuildHer give women a leg up in this industry by:

• Helping you become a decisive decision maker. Construction companies often operate in fast-moving environments where decisions (about budgeting, hiring, project management, etc.) directly impact profitability. Executive-level collaboration allows leaders to step outside their own organization to learn from peers facing similar challenges. Think of them as mentors to inspire you about new approaches to financial management, team structure, or even operational efficiency. Bottom line? Collaboration gives you access to a wealth of knowledge that will help you become a better decision-maker. 

• Accelerating your personal growth. When executive leaders collaborate, they share real-time experiences of what worked and what didn’t. This type of first-hand knowledge gives you a fast track to flexing your business muscles and building a business on proven practices. 

• Bringing new leadership perspectives. In many ways, the current building climate is making leadership more important than hands-on construction experience. Women often build companies that emphasize collaboration, culture, and long-term vision–qualities that their customers are hungry for in the construction world, where coordination, communication, and trust are critical.

When executive leaders step away from daily operations to connect with and mentor peers, the conversations tend to extend beyond job sites and schedules. Professional women are not only entering the industry in greater numbers but also increasingly leading companies, shaping culture, and redefining what effective leadership in building looks like. 

Join us for BuildHer 2027!

If you’re a woman in the construction industry, we think BuildHer 2027 is the perfect event for you. (We might be biased, but it’s a blast and every year, we learn and grow so much!) 

If you’d like to attend BuildHer 2027, you can get your ticket here. We’d love to see you!