Joining 14 years ago, Tina Rossillon found BC as the place to be where she could take her skills to new heights as a Civil Engineer. Collaboratively working on engineering designs for public works projects, she didn’t realize at the time how big of an impact BC would have on her and her journey to becoming her authentic self.
In her early years with BC, Tina realized the professional part of herself got to casually travel around with her from the office, to the store, home, and beyond. Tina was born with an early passion for design, however she soon understood that was only a piece of her and the other pieces of herself deserved to be known too.
Fear, worse-case scenarios, and doubt held Tina back from taking the big step to begin her transition to her authentic self, until one day, she had an unexpected conversation with a colleague. After the lifechanging conversation, she realized she had the support she needed all along and decided to start her transition to her authentic self.
“Before my transition, I was afraid how I’d be perceived in the workplace, but with a ton of support and a lifechanging conversation with a colleague, I did it.” Tina explains.
When colleague John DeRosa reached out about co-leading the LGBTQ Community & Allies Employee Network Group (ENG), an internal community of support, dialogue, and activism for employees and allies of the LGBTQ community, Tina found it an exciting opportunity to share her voice and provide a space where others could relate and learn.
“When I was approached to be a co-leader, I thought about my experience and I realized I could be that support and example for someone else at BC.”
With its launch in May 2019, the LGBTQ Community & Allies ENG found great success by creating a safe and unique space where everyone could be authentic and feel comfortable to engage openly in conversation. “We deserve to identify ourselves and our many pieces: engineer, transgender, designer, human, in all aspects of our lives, both professionally and personally,” Tina explains. “It’s important because those pieces work together to form our true authentic selves and that is what this ENG supports.”
Tina’s love for design and her identity as an engineer goes beyond the workplace. She recently had a custom home built for her wife and drew the building plans herself. She loves gardening and even designed and completed her own backyard layout. Next, she is hoping to get her fishpond back up and running with goldfish.
