erlla Deluca will be the keynote speaker at the 2025 Associated General Contractors, or AGC, of Alaska Annual Conference taking place at the Hotel Captain Cook November 12 through 15. She will be speaking at the Management Symposium on Friday, November 14. Deluca will present an interactive and informative talk about the trajectory of women’s careers in construction, creating a legacy, and mentoring women in construction.

Deluca is the president of Southeast Constructors, a woman-owned small business that specializes in heavy construction. She migrated to the United States when she was 20 years old. After landing in Florida, she worked in real estate and construction for 18 years, where she became a general contractor, working on more than 100 projects including residential and commercial. About 10 years ago she moved to Iowa to acquire more experience in heavy construction. Since then, she has done extensive work for cities, state, and federal agencies. Her company has completed twenty-six federal projects in the past decade.

Deluca says some of her proudest projects are the Women of Achievement Bridge in Des Moines, Iowa, and, at the federal level, the restoration of former president Harry S. Truman’s house. Her federal projects include work for the US Army Corps of Engineers, several national parks, and the General Services Administration, which manages government buildings and real estate.

Because of her passion for helping small businesses, Deluca sits on the board of the Iowa Department of Transportation for DBE, or Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, Businesses. In 2020, she graduated from the Goldman Sachs Entrepreneurship Program and is still a part of the Goldman Sachs 10k Small Business Voices community, where she advocates for small businesses at the national level. To have a direct impact helping minorities and women entering the construction industry, Deluca in 2021 founded—with her partner Joseph Cichowski—an all-inclusive construction school, the Iowa School of Construction, which has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, national news, and local news channels. She is also behind The Pink Hardhat Foundation, which she founded in 2022 with the vision of empowering, educating, and inspiring women in construction. The foundation helps cover the costs for additional training for women in the industry and mentoring.