Amanda Finnerty: Director of Internal Operations for Commodore Builders

This profile on Amanda Finnerty is the third post in a month-long series of profiles about female STEM innovators in honor of Women’s History Month. This profile also celebrates Women in Construction week by focusing on Finnerty, Director of Internal Operations for Commodore Builders, a $350M construction management firm. Check back each weekday to read a new profile.

Amanda Finnerty was exposed to many different worlds at an early age between her mother, an executive chef, and her father, a construction worker₁. Finnerty elected to spend free time in her mother’s professional kitchen, where she became certain she would also become a professional chef₁. In order to take advantage of all the opportunities available to her, and to make extra money as a teenager, Finnerty also took a job working with her father₁.

“I also worked as a laborer for my father on the weekends, cleaning up his jobsites, hauling trash and even swinging a sledge hammer every once in a while to take down a wall or two,” Finnerty wrote on her Commodore Builders biography page. “Little did I know, that was the beginning of my career in construction.”

After attending the University of Massachusetts Boston from 1987 to 1990, according to her LinkedIn profile, Finnerty was recruited in the mid-2000s for the first construction job since she worked with her father₁.

“It was pure chance that 15 years ago a recruiter sent me on an interview for an Office Management position at a construction firm,” Finnerty wrote in her Commodore Builders’ bio. “I think they hired me right away after hearing about my experience as a laborer – even though it had nothing to do with the position. Regardless of how I got there, I had found my home in the construction industry. I’ve worked in many roles throughout the years, including office management, facilities, HR, marketing, business development, internal operations and IT. I have a passion for figuring things out and getting things done. Give me a problem and I’ll find the solution_.1”

Since this initial role in construction as an Office Manager, Finnerty has worked as the Director of Marketing & Business Development for P&IDC, Director of Marketing for Barr & Barr, Inc., before changing jobs to her current role as the Director of Internal Operations for Commodore Builders_1,2.

The mission of Commodore Builders centers around providing clients with a streamlined, reliable process to execute projects in the commercial, tenant interior, life sciences, institutional/academic, and hospitality markets₂.

During her career at Commodore Builders, Finnerty took a brief hiatus from work to focus on recovering from her addition to alcohol₁. Once she returned to work, Finnerty was met with support and admiration from her colleagues which has helped her remain sober since 2010₁. 

In addition to her corporate role hith Commodore Builders, Finnerty is a Recovery Advocate Co-Founder, and Director of Shining Strong, a non-profit organization that helps women become and remain sober; and co-hosts a podcast about recovery and addition called The Bubble Hour₁.

References

1. Commodore Builders. (2020). Amanda Finnerty. Retrieved from https://commodorebuilders.com/people/amanda-finnerty/
2. Procore. (2018, August 29). Conquering Groundbreak’s Mechanical Bull and other Breakthrough Technologies. Retrieved from https://blog.procore.com/groundbreaks-mechanical-bull-as-an-awkward-here-comes-the-future-metaphor/.