Ann McNeill, President of MCO Construction & Services Inc., is one of the recipients for the 2018 Barry University Distinguished Alumni Awards

Ann McNeill, President of MCO Construction & Services Inc., is one of the recipients for the 2018 Barry University Distinguished Alumni Awards

Ann McNeill is President of South Florida’s first African American, female owned Construction Company. Founded over 40 years ago, MCO is still one of the leading minority firms in South Florida in the area of construction management and project controls. McNeill has been at the helm of this small company with a large presence that has worked on a majority of flagship projects in South Florida, such as American Airlines Arena, Marlins Park, Miami International Airport, The Philip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, and The Miami Dade Children’s Courthouse, to name a few.

As a licensed general contractor in the male dominated construction industry, McNeill discovered that women in the construction business were few and far between. She recognized that Black women in construction needed a network that would be an advocate and the voice of their small but growing segment of the industry. Thus, she founded the National Association of Black Women in Construction (NABWIC) to help build a pipeline for Black women in every area of the industry, whether it be in the public sector, private sector, entrepreneurs or young women pursuing construction disciplines in high school, trade schools or colleges. The main purpose of NABWIC is to create a network of professional women in the construction industry who teach each other how to turn contacts into contracts. Each month NABWIC has its “Billion Dollar” luncheon to help members do exactly that. Annually, McNeill and NABWIC host an Industry Day to connect STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) students with industry leaders. As a result of her track record of accomplishments, has been featured in Black Enterprise magazine, USA Today and ABC’s World News.

McNeill travels around the country speaking about work-life balance for her speaking business,

Constructively Speaking, Inc.; she is also president of MCO Consulting, Inc., a consulting company that provides outreach, monitoring and compliance for private sector firms that perform work on public sector projects.

She has received numerous awards and recognitions for her work in her industry and also in the community. McNeill received her Bachelor’s Degree in accounting from Florida Memorial College and her Master’s Degree in finance from Barry University. She and her husband Daniel have two daughters, Danelle and Ionnie, and grandchildren Malachi and Rajah-Nia.