Disclaimer: This person served as a panelist at a HELI event. This profile was created for their involvement on that event page only. This person is not a member, partner, or colleague of the HELI Initiative, but only served in the capacity of a panelist at the panel event.

Samantha Groark is Executive Director of the Central Iowa Building & Construction Trades Council, a regional affiliate of the Iowa State Building & Construction Trades Council. The Council comprises 16 building trades unions that represent thousands of working men and women across the state of Iowa. Prior to this role, Sam was a union-side labor attorney at the Kansas City law firm of Blake & Uhlig, P.A. representing unions and employee benefit funds across the Midwest. She currently serves on the Education Cabinet for United Way of Central Iowa and is a Board Member of Iowa Women in Trades. She also serves as a Zoning Commissioner for Polk County. Sam has a Bachelor's Degree in English from Xavier University and her law degree from the University of Missouri.