Answer extracted from the Forum Focus podcast — listen to the full episode below.
How did NECA build diversity infrastructure to eliminate barriers in electrical contracting?
NECA created a dedicated Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion position for the first time in the last 18 months and implemented maternity leave benefits in its health plan to support journeywomen and apprentices during pregnancy. The organization also shifted recruitment strategy from passive participation in broad programs to active recruitment in schools and trade shows, leveraging minority contractors and journeymen to eliminate stigma and dismantle historical barriers.
From Passive Hope to Active Recruitment
NECA's diversity transformation didn't start with an infrastructure overhaul alone. As detailed in the Forum Focus episode, the organization recognized a fundamental flaw: hoping that minority candidates would simply trickle down from broad, generic recruitment programs was insufficient. The shift required genuine effort and visibility.
Doug Martin emphasized that active recruitment in schools and trade shows replaced the old model of waiting for candidates to discover the industry on their own. By showing up directly where potential electricians were learning and considering their futures, NECA made opportunity visible and tangible. This presence alone sent a signal: the electrical contracting industry was actively looking for diverse talent.
Leveraging Internal Champions to Break Down Barriers
One of the most powerful structural decisions was placing minority contractors and journeymen at the center of recruitment efforts. These internal champions could speak authentically about their own careers, dismantle misconceptions, and show younger electricians and apprentices—especially those from underrepresented backgrounds—that success in this field was achievable for them too.
This peer-to-peer credibility is what generic outreach cannot replicate. When someone who looks like you and comes from your community tells you the path is open, the message lands differently. The infrastructure Doug Martin and NECA built was less about a single program and more about embedding diverse role models throughout the recruiting and training pipeline.
The maternity leave benefit further signaled institutional commitment. As described in this podcast conversation, journeywomen and apprentices had historically faced a choice: stay in the trade or start a family. By removing that false choice through concrete benefits, NECA addressed a barrier that had been invisible to much of the industry for decades.
"I've worked my whole career with an organization that simply wanted to build an appropriate and productive relationship with our labor partners."
Doug Martin — Executive Director of the St. Louis Chapter National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), recently stepped down. Doug grew up in western Montana in a copper mining family, with his grandfather holding multiple leadership positions including president in Local One of the Miners Union in Butte, which had over 40,000 members at its peak. After college, he worked as an explosive apprentice in the mines for less than two years before being encouraged to leave the industry. He joined NECA as a trainee in fall 1977 and became assistant manager in March 1978, spending over 40 years building labor-management collaboration in the St. Louis construction industry and now serving as co-chair of the St. Louis Construction Cooperative.
Doug Martin's philosophy of building appropriate relationships extended into diversity work—recognizing that inclusion isn't a box to check, but a structural commitment that touches every part of how an organization operates. The details of how NECA also evolved its apprenticeship model to double the pipeline capacity reveal the full scope of this transformation, explored further in the full episode.
See also
What structural changes to apprenticeship recruitment doubled the number of electricians entering training?
NECA changed from recruiting annually and placing one class based on classroom capacity to a continuous probationary apprenticeship model that recruits and trains new electricians year-round, significantly increasing pipeline capacity.
How did a shift from adversarial labor-management conflict to productive partnership transform a regional electrical contractors industry?
Over 40 years, NECA St. Louis evolved from a time where contractors and labor could barely sit in a room to speak amiably, to a collaborative partnership model focused on shared prosperity and industry growth.
Key takeaways
- NECA created a dedicated Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion position within the last 18 months, signaling institutional commitment to dismantling historical barriers.
- Maternity leave benefits in the health plan addressed a hidden barrier that forced journeywomen and apprentices to choose between career and family.
- Recruitment shifted from passive hope to active presence in schools and trade shows, with minority contractors and journeymen serving as visible champions of career opportunity.
- Structural diversity work requires embedding diverse role models throughout the pipeline, not just creating a single program or position.