Capacity Builder
Workforce and Community Engagement Director Vladimir Monroe is helping to expand opportunities for construction businesses across McCarthy's Central Region.
Vladimir “Vlad” Monroe may not pour concrete or set steel, but the groundwork he lays is as critical as any load-bearing wall.
As Workforce and Community Engagement Director in McCarthy’s Central Region based in St. Louis, he is expanding opportunities for small construction businesses to play a foundational role in building transformative community projects.
Working alongside Workforce and Community Engagement Manager Danielle Emert, Monroe guides McCarthy business unit leaders and project teams in establishing and achieving partner participation goals that reflect client and community expectations.
It’s about collaboration and consistency. We want to ensure everyone is aligned from day one so we can all work toward a single, successful target.
Workforce and Community Engagement Director
By engaging with McCarthy teams during the earliest stages of a project’s lifecycle, Monroe is able to help formulate ambitious, yet realistic, participation plans that set projects up for success. “Whether it’s a large public-facing project or a smaller pursuit, early involvement allows us to formulate an effective plan to reach—and often exceed—our goals.”
To equip smaller firms with the tools they need to scale and succeed, Monroe and Emert are co-leading the newly launched McCarthy Partner Development Program. This nine-month interactive class series focuses on optimizing the core business skills of program participants while helping them navigate the McCarthy network to find and win new work.
We want to help them build long-term success. By removing barriers, we’re making the entire process easier and more effective for everyone involved.
Workforce and Community Engagement Director
Anchored in Community
Monroe’s journey to McCarthy is the culmination of a lifelong commitment to community building.
Born in Philadelphia and raised in Los Angeles, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and later went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in political science and government from Edward Waters College, a historically black college and university (HBCU) in Jacksonville, Florida.
Though his dad worked in the mortgage industry and his mom was a lifelong educator, Monroe’s chosen vocation placed him at the intersection of public policy and economic development.
He launched that career in Minneapolis, where the mayor appointed him as a commissioner to the Minneapolis Commission on Civil Rights in 2006. In this role, he advised the mayor, Minneapolis City Council members, and city agencies and departments to ensure compliance with the city’s civil rights ordinance. He also served consecutive two-year terms as an elected board member to the Jordan Area Community Council, a nonprofit neighborhood organization in north Minneapolis focusing on housing, safety, health, youth programs and environmental initiatives.
In 2013, Monroe relocated to Chicago to serve as a compliance officer in the Department of Procurement Services for the City of Chicago. His responsibilities included evaluating applications from businesses seeking certification from the City of Chicago as a minority-owned and women-owned business enterprise (MBE/WBE) and other diversity supplier certification programs.
Sharpening the Gateway City
Monroe’s formative career experiences led him to St. Louis in 2015 to lead workforce and inclusion efforts for the St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC). This independent economic development agency focuses on equitable investment, job growth and revitalization programs throughout the city.
At SLDC, he discovered a landscape ripe for transformation. “It was essentially the wild west,” Monroe recalls, noting the organization lacked a modern computer system or compliance software that would enable its team to conduct real-time assessments on jobsites.
Building a program from the ground up, he modernized the technology systems and authored the ordinances and policies that now govern workforce and small business participation for city-incentivized construction projects.
It was during this period that Monroe first encountered McCarthy while overseeing major city developments that included the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station, the Next NGA West campus and the Jeffrey T. Fort Neuroscience Research Building at Washington University School of Medicine.
Jeffrey T. Fort Neuroscience Research Building at Washington University School of Medicine
Next NGA West
St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station
McCarthy was different because they had internal participation goals that existed regardless of whether a specific project required them. That was different than all the other companies I had come across in St. Louis, and it impressed me.
Workforce and Community Engagement Director
He also recalls hearing consistently positive feedback from subcontractors and trade partners on their experiences in working with McCarthy.
In early 2025, Monroe learned about a potential opportunity to join McCarthy and lead its regional workforce and community engagement team. It didn’t take long for him to recognize that it represented an ideal fusion of his background, aspirations and passion for improving communities.
Reflecting on his eight-month McCarthy tenure, Monroe points to the company's collaborative spirit as its greatest asset.
People stay here for so long because they genuinely like the company and enjoy the work. It’s rewarding to be part of a team that doesn't just work in silos, but is genuinely committed to building together.
Workforce and Community Engagement Director
Get to Know Vlad Monroe
- Vlad is married to Keisa, a corporate attorney, and they live in the city of St. Louis’ Benton Park West neighborhood. Other family members include Amira (22), Ava (20), Palmer (7) and Lenox (5).
- Athletics are an important part of Vlad’s life. He plays basketball in recreational leagues and coaches his son's basketball and baseball teams.
- A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Vlad trains in Krav Maga—the Israeli self-defense system—alongside his younger kids.
- He’s also an avid golfer, cigar enthusiast and devoted fan of his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers (he loves catching Dodgers games at Busch Stadium).
- Vlad and his wife also enjoy exploring the St. Louis restaurant scene.
