Want to Make a Global Impact? This Inclusion and Engagement Expert Shares Her Insights

Sponsored by CRH

Melea Malik smiling while wearing a white button-up shirt in front of a dark blue curtain.

Melea Malik. Photo courtesy of CRH.

Fairygodboss

Updated: 6/18/2025

During her undergraduate years, Malea Malik studied international relations and aspired to join a company with a vibrant global presence. With CRH, she found precisely that.

“CRH builds the infrastructure for the communities we live, work, and gather in,” she says. “At any given moment, around the world, you could be walking on a sidewalk that has our pipe and precast materials beneath it, or driving across a bridge that was built with our asphalt and concrete, or taking off in an airplane on a runway that was paved by our people. ”

Malea's impact as the Senior Manager of Global Inclusion & Engagement reflects both the expansive nature of her ambition and the company itself. From strategic conversations with CRH’s executive leaders about the business’s overarching goals to engaging with local leaders and operating companies, her role spans the globe.

“In a single day, I can meet with the Culture and Engagement Council that I sit on for our largest line of business in the Americas, create an inclusion and engagement deck for our executive leadership’s board meeting, meet with talent leaders about the mentoring program I developed for our Americas business, and meet with an ERG leader to strategize how to increase impact and frontline employee membership,” she shares. “That’s what I love about my role, no two days look the same.”

Here, we caught up with Malea to learn more about CRH’s numerous career growth opportunities, her recent accomplishments, and how to build a more equitable world.

To get started, could you please tell us a bit more about your career journey?

In 2016, I began doing diversity, equity, and inclusion work at a small firm by guiding discussions and facilitating training and opportunities to create more inclusive workspaces. I’ve worked in financial services, international education, and now building materials and manufacturing.

I’ve been with CRH since October 2023 and started with a scope of North America, supporting about 40,000 employees in the United States and Canada as a Senior Manager. In April 2025, I stepped into the Senior Manager of Global Inclusion & Engagement role with a global scope across the organization. I support both our divisions—Americas and International—and our corporate functions across our Head Offices, supporting around 80,000 CRH employees worldwide.

I’ve grown in my career by actively seeking opportunities to stretch myself and go outside my comfort zone. I also learned early on how to ask for feedback from leaders I trust and admire. I’m fortunate that I’ve been able to closely partner with other people or talent strategy functions, like talent acquisition, learning and development, talent management, and broader HR functions. Through this, I’ve learned a lot about these functions’ challenges, which helps me support their efforts much more efficiently. I also meet and engage with my peers who are in operational roles to understand the business better.

What career move have you made that you are most proud of?

Stepping outside my comfort zone and returning to school for my master’s degree has been a rewarding experience. I’m studying industrial-organizational psychology through Harvard University’s Extension School, and it has been challenging, yet incredibly beneficial. I’ve taken the technical skills from my courses and have applied them to the strategy, programs, and projects I work on every day. I’m also fortunate that CRH offers tuition assistance, which helps finance this aspiration.

What differentiates CRH from others in its space and industry?

CRH is unique in that we’re a family of families. CRH has mastered the art of creating a global presence while remaining localized at the operating level. I take pride in working for an organization that acquires companies to enhance local impact by maintaining deep connections within the community and staying true to its origins. We continue to be industry leaders because we invest in our people. I can’t speak directly about what other organizations do, but I can speak about my experience within our organization. I’ve learned how much CRH has invested in developing leaders throughout their careers.

Lastly, CRH takes pride in its innovative approach to finding solutions for industry challenges, emphasizing sustainable development. Innovation is one of our core values and is reflected in how leaders encourage new approaches to existing challenges.

What global career development opportunities can women job seekers expect at CRH?

There are so many opportunities to develop at CRH. In the short time I’ve been here, I’ve matured so much within my career. I’ve been fortunate to attend CRH conferences, work on and lead global teams and projects, and be part of strategy discussions across the organization. I’ve also gotten involved in our global ERG community as both a member and as support staff. I recently formed our Global Women’s ERG Chairs Forum for all our women’s ERGs across the organization as an opportunity to collaborate and maximize their impact. This forum is an opportunity to develop as an ERG leader and within your everyday role.

Does CRH offer professional development programs like leadership, mentoring, and returnship programs?

CRH offers several leadership development programs for every phase of a leader’s career —from early leadership forums like Up Forum and Early Leaders Program, to our mid-level and senior-level leadership programs. I was invited to attend Up Forum in 2024, and it was such a great opportunity to network with peers and senior leaders within the organization and to learn more about business operations, strategy, and aspirations.

We also offer several mentoring programs. From our ERG-led mentoring circles that offer group, peer-level mentoring experiences to our structured mentoring programs, there’s no shortage of opportunities to connect with a mentor. One of the first programs I developed at CRH was our internal mentoring program for early-career leaders called Empower You. This program is for attendees of our Up Forum and pairs them with senior leaders across the division. The program landed so well within North America that we’ve expanded it to our teams in Europe. There are also more localized mentoring and returnship programs that pair new or returning employees with team members during their first 90 days within the organization.

Do you have any books, podcasts, or other forms of media that you would recommend women read to help them better support other women?

There are so many books, TED Talks, and podcasts, but the main form of support I recommend is reaching out to your network and forming genuine relationships. Learn more about the personal lives of the women around you. Nothing in any book or podcast will tell you how to be a great friend or support system for the women around you better than experience will. Building a community is the only way we’ll truly see equity within our careers and personal lives.

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