Every veteran who works at Suffolk has a unique story. Hear in Laura’s words how she got to where she is today.
“My story is that of a true citizen soldier. I commissioned in 2010 into the Massachusetts Army National Guard (MANG) and was placed on full-time orders immediately following graduation. I did my initial officer training at Fort Gordon in Georgia, and upon returning home I was asked to fill in on a deployment in Afghanistan. I worked in the operations section there for about five months with the 26th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, where our mission was to run the Kabul Base Cluster. We were in the process of handing over bases to the Afghan National Army while also securing the city.
The National Guard is unique in that most people have a civilian job as well. I came back from Afghanistan and was again put on orders to run the Resilience, Risk Reduction, and Suicide Prevention Program for the MANG. I worked there for a few years and got my master’s degree in social work at Boston University. After finishing at BU, I worked at Massachusetts General Hospital for Home Base, helping to provide clinical care to veterans and their families while simultaneously serving in the National Guard.
While I was at Home Base, I helped build out the National Center of Excellence in the Charlestown Navy Yard. It was my first parlay into construction. When COVID hit, I was the site manager for Boston Hope. The pace and the environment of building those two projects really energized me and drew me to Suffolk.
I find that all the skills I’ve learned in the military and the character it helped me build has made it easy for me to come to Suffolk and learn construction. When you’re in the military, you master multitasking. You have endurance when it comes to managing projects—when it’s crunch time, you put in the work. You also have the ability to connect and build relationships with people of all different backgrounds. I’ve been fortunate to have great advocates here at Suffolk, and feeling the immediate embrace of the veterans group has been truly wonderful.”
Veterans are essential, valued members of the Suffolk family. If you’re interested in learning more and joining our team, click here.
Laura Lakin is an Assistant Project Manager at Suffolk.
