Trustee Cyndie Williams Honored with 2026 Sigurd Lucassen Labor Eagle Award

Cyndie Williams, executive director of the Carpenter Contractor Trust (CCT), has been honored with the prestigious 2026 Sigurd Lucassen Labor Eagle Award, recognizing her leadership, dedication and contributions to the construction industry.

Williams began her career 30 years ago as one of the few women working as laborers in a traditionally male-dominated industry. Rather than allowing barriers to define her future, she built a career marked by determination, hard work and a commitment to creating opportunities for others.

“When I look back at my career, all I ever wanted to do was keep my head in a forward direction, because I was always being judged for being the woman on the job back in the ’90s,” Williams reflected in her award acceptance video. “I just wanted to show them that I could work.”

Her professional journey has taken her from apprentice and carpenter to pre-apprenticeship instructor, council representative for Local 254 and, ultimately, executive director of CCT.

“One foot in front of the other and always having good intentions has led me to the place that I am now,” she said.

As executive director, Williams works to build relationships among organized labor, contractors, training programs and industry leaders. Her efforts focus on collaboration, workforce development and creating opportunities for union contractors and the skilled trades.

For Williams, the award carries particular personal significance. Sigurd Lucassen, the former general president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, had roots in the same Red Bank, New Jersey, union community where she began her career. His name and legacy were familiar to her long before she became an industry leader.

“Leaders, mentors, kept saying, ‘You could go all the way to the top, like Sig did,'” Williams recalled. “There’s so much sense of pride that a gentleman that rose to that place was from our little town in Red Bank.”

Her career has also been shaped by a belief in the opportunities that skilled trades offer individuals and families. With New Jersey continuing to invest in infrastructure, health care facilities, schools and other essential construction projects, Williams sees tremendous potential for the next generation of workers.

“It’s livable wages, it’s sustainable employment,” she said, emphasizing the long-term value of careers in the trades.

That commitment to advancing others continues to guide her work. Williams hopes her experiences will encourage more people, particularly women, to recognize the opportunities available in construction and pursue careers they might not otherwise have considered.

“I hope to be that person that is the spark for somebody else to want to move forward,” she said.

Williams’ leadership has also earned her a nomination to the Board of Directors of Professional Women in Construction’s New Jersey Chapter (PWC-NJ), an organization dedicated to advancing women and promoting diversity in the architecture, engineering and construction industries.

Her recognition was celebrated during Brookdale Community College’s October Board of Trustees meeting, where fellow trustees congratulated Williams, who also serves on Brookdale’s Board, for her extraordinary achievement and the example she continues to set for women pursuing careers in construction.

For Williams, however, the greatest reward extends beyond professional recognition. It is the opportunity to see others beginning the same journey she started three decades ago and to help them discover what is possible.

“I’ve built a long career. I’ve raised a family. I believe so much in what I do in giving others the opportunity to do the same thing,” she said.