August 12, 2024
Women in Tree Care, Workforce Development

Considering the Role of Women in Tree Care in the Next Decade

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In the evolving field of tree care, the role of women is becoming increasingly prominent, driven by their passion for the work as well as the innovations for and dedication to diversity and inclusion. This month, as a preview to a related panel discussion at TCI EXPO ’24 in Baltimore this November, we spotlight five women, all industry leaders making significant strides in supporting women and underrepresented groups within the tree care industry. They share their visions for the future of tree care over the next decade and the changes they hope to see.

Ash Connelly

Ash Connelly

Ash Connelly

Assistant market leader, SavATree, Charleston, South Carolina
In addition to being involved in women in tree care (WITC) platforms and developing an all-female sales force, Connelly believes that the best way to affect change is through the eyes of the future. She brings awareness of the arboriculture profession to children through speaking engagements at the elementary level and above. She’s found that the more familiar we all become with seeing an otherwise unexpected demographic in the green industry, the more bridges will be built.

Connelly also found success in networking and community outreach. Each connection has a butterfly effect on diversity and unity, she says, adding that networking enables us to receive and provide support simultaneously.

She is leading a workshop on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at TCI EXPO ’24 in Baltimore (see sidebar), as well as a session on “Estimating Strategies to Maximize Profits.”

Connelly’s vision:

“Unity – we have made incredible forward progress as an industry in the last five years,” Connelly says. “There are more people on board for change than fighting against it. To achieve greater progress, all industry professionals must feel connected to the cause. While respecting differing viewpoints and celebrating individual strengths, it will take extreme ownership to transcend from blazing trails to breaking barriers. I hope that in 10 years, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) will not be an initiative or topic but a catalyst for workforce expansion, safety advancements and product development, and that inclusivity is as instinctive as setting a safety line.”

Bear LeVangie

Bear LeVangie

Bear LeVangie and Melissa LeVangie Ingersoll

Co-founders and owners, Women’s Tree Climbing Workshop (WTCW), Lincoln, Vermont
Twin sisters Bear LeVangie and Melissa LeVangie Ingersoll co-founded the Women’s Tree Climbing Workshop (WTCW), an organization that provides tree-climbing training for women, taught by women, with an emphasis on arboriculture. With more than 50 years of combined tree-climbing and arboriculture experience, and having trained more than 3,000 people, the LeVangie sisters are dedicated to empowering women and individuals of diverse identities through tree climbing. Their workshops have changed how people perceive those who care for trees.

Bear is the executive director and a lead instructor of WTCW, and also is an ISA TRAQ Certified Arborist, a Connecticut Licensed Arborist, a Massachusetts Qualified Tree Warden, a Petzl Competent PPE Inspector, a Yoga Alliance RYT200 teacher and an American Red Cross instructor.

Melissa LeVangie Ingersoll

Melissa LeVangie Ingersoll

Melissa is the marketing director and a lead instructor of WTCW, an ISA TRAQ Certified Arborist, a Massachusetts Certified Arborist, a New Hampshire Certified Arborist and an American Red Cross instructor.

The pair will be leading a tree demonstration called “The S-A-F-E-T-Y Dance” on the trade-show floor at TCI EXPO ’24 in Baltimore.

LeVangie’s vision:

“In the next 10 years, I want people to see arborists not as a female or a male arborist; so, when someone calls a tree company for help, they’ll request an arborist,” says LeVangie. “I want to see arborists defined by the knowledge base and expertise they offer the customer, because words matter. We hope to see more people using words that bring us together rather than divide us. Trees don’t care what gender you are.”

LeVangie Ingersol’s vision:

“I want to witness the word ‘arborist’ become a household word,” says LeVangie Ingersoll. “And when conversations of environmental change continue, people will focus their attention on caring for their trees. When we reach the 2030s, our environmental conditions will become more extreme. I hope everybody who looks out into their landscape will value the great importance of their trees. We need more people to understand trees and their gifts; these living lungs (of the earth) provide so much more than oxygen. We need people to comprehend how their everyday actions, either negatively or positively, impact tree health. In trees we trust.”

Julia George

Julia George

Julia George

Chief executive officer, Heartwood Tree Service, Charlotte, North Carolina
Last year (2023), Julia George joined TCIA’s Women in Tree Care (WITC) Peer Group, which includes women from all over the country, and says it has been a transformative experience. She also attended and participated in the WITC event at TCI EXPO ’22.

George’s vision:

“I’d love to see people continue to challenge themselves in new ways,” says George. “I’d like to see diversity in the industry continue to grow in a supportive way, where we ultimately don’t notice our differences as barriers, we embrace and celebrate them. Or, more important, we recognize our differences as necessary strengths that add more balance to the industry, and we become more humble and self-aware so as to recognize our weaknesses and lean on others who are different from us to help us grow. I also would love to see more peer groups and more options for people to feel like they have a place to go to get the support they need to find their way and gain confidence in themselves so they can excel. At the end of the day, we’re all just passionate about the same thing – trees.”

Rebecca Johnson

Founder and principal owner, Arborholic LLC
Rebecca Johnson, CTSP, is a TCIA Qualified Trainer and an ISA Certified Arborist, holds her ISA TRAQ credential and is Texas Oak Wilt Qualified and Texas Wildfire Risk Reduction Qualified. She hosts and facilitates a monthly Women in Trees chat (https://mailchi.mp/ce76e116665b/witchat). Hers is an open and inclusive group for people of underrepresented genders. “It’s an open and fluid discussion as they discuss what’s going on in our lives and the greater world,” she says. After the chat, she summarizes what was discussed and sends it to a wider email list with links for people to find more information.

Johnson’s vision:

“My vision is so broad,” Johnson says. “My BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) is that women make up 50% of the tree care industry workforce. Mostly, I want this industry to be a place where women are celebrated rather than merely tolerated – this would show up in safety gear being made to fit women rather than women trying to adjust to ill-fitting safety gear. I joke that I will feel like we have parity when I have to wait in line for the restroom at a tree care conference.”

Conclusion

To hear more from these women and others on this topic, make plans now to attend their panel discussion, “Breaking Barriers: Facilitating Growth Through Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Programs & Advocacy,” during TCI EXPO ’24 in Baltimore!

Tracey Miller is TCIA’s marketing content manager based at TCIA’s headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire.

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