Women in HVACR Are Driving Change Across the Skilled Trades
In this episode of Straight Outta Crumpton, host Greg Crumpton speaks with Amy O'Grady, Executive Director of Women in HVACR, about the structural barriers women face in the HVAC industry and the efforts underway to close workforce and representation gaps. O'Grady shares her path from managing a family HVAC business to becoming a licensed contractor and national nonprofit leader. The conversation highlights how mentorship, networking, and organizational support can help unlock the industry's full potential.
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Key takeaways
Women in HVACR focuses on mentorship, networking, and visibility to support women at all career stages in the HVAC industry.
Trade school enrollment rose 4.9% between fall 2020 and fall 2023, but workforce gaps in middle-skill HVACR roles persist.
Companies can support women in HVACR by partnering with volunteer-led organizations through bulk memberships, mentorship programs, and conference participation.
Trade school enrollment climbed 4.9% between fall 2020 and fall 2023, signaling a national shift toward skills-based careers as alternatives to four-year degrees. This modest but meaningful rebound underscores growing interest in trades like HVACR, where demand is high, but representation remains lopsided. For decades, women in the field have been overlooked despite playing critical roles across operations, service, and leadership.
How can the HVAC industry unlock its full potential by expanding access, visibility, and mentorship for women already doing the work?
In this episode of Straight Outta Crumpton, host Greg Crumpton sits down with Amy O’Grady, Executive Director of Women in HVACR. Amy shares her journey from managing her family’s air conditioning business to becoming a licensed contractor and national advocate. Together, they examine the structural gaps in workforce development and why celebrating women in the HVAC industry is long overdue.
Key Points from the Episode:
- Women in HVACR is focused on mentorship, networking, and visibility to support women at all stages of their HVAC careers.
- While enrollment in trade schools is recovering, workforce gaps persist, particularly in middle-skill roles that require hands-on experience and on-the-job learning.
- Companies can better support women in the HVAC industry by engaging with volunteer-led organizations like Women in HVACR, offering bulk memberships, mentorship opportunities, and conference participation.
Amy O’Grady is a licensed HVAC contractor and nonprofit executive with over a decade of experience leading marketing, operations, and strategic growth initiatives across the skilled trades sector. As Executive Director of Women in HVACR, she has elevated national visibility for women in the industry through mentorship programs, board leadership, and high-impact events. Her expertise spans membership engagement, brand development, and governance strategy, empowering organizations to expand reach, boost performance, and drive workforce inclusion.
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About the author
Straight Outta Crumpton Greg's personal & professional goals are to serve the people that he am working with and/or for. He carries this mantra in his professional life and his home life. Having 40+ years as a full-service mechanical and mission critical environments contractor with a heavy emphasis on service, maintenance and repair. Greg specialize in mission critical cooling (Heat Rejection) and electrical infrastructures, as well as the comfort cooling surrounding them. As a continual entrepreneur, several markets strike him as interesting. As varied as you could imagine, they range from Coffee with my bud's at www.CommonPlaceCoffee.com, all the way to serving as an adviser for several start-ups in the emerging technology world via www.aGlobalVenture.com & www.AtomPower.com and others. Giving back to his community is of equal importance to him, www.apparo.org and Animal Welfare are just a couple ways of doing just that.
