2016 Women Build the Nation
Registration is open for the 2016 Women Build the Nation! It is going to be in Chicago this year – the first time the event will be held outside of California. Registrations and hotel rooms are going quickly. If you are looking forward to the event, now is the time to register! The conference takes place from April 29 – May 1, 2016. Registrations received by February 29 will only cost $100, (with a $15 discount for North American’s Building Trade Unions affiliates!).
We know many tradeswomen in Oregon really want to attend, but are wondering how to afford it? Your employer or union might sponsor you to attend. Asking early this month is a great idea so that you can offer them the best deal with early bird registration. Don’t forget to ask for wage replacement too!
If you aren’t sure how to go about asking for this support, don’t worry, Women Build the Nations is looking out for you. They have example requests, details about the conference value, and information on how to make a motion from the floor to help you out!
If you want some extra support from Oregon Tradeswomen, reach out to Tiffany and set something up!
2015 Outstanding Volunteers
One of the highlights of my year is when I get to recognize the hard work of OTI’s volunteers. These folks often work behind the scenes and their contributions to our mission are so often missed! This year, I am excited to highlight four volunteers who have gone above and beyond to support OTI and tradeswomen.
Outstanding Board Member
Irais Gandarilla
If her face looks familiar, but you can’t quite place it, look back to your 2015 Women in Trades Career Fair materials. Irais was the face of brand new materials that feature real tradeswomen. She also represented our Board and the organization, acting a spokeswoman . The 2015 Tradeswomen Leadership Institute would not have been the same without her this year either, she served on the planning committee and, in partnership with Annie Burton, presented a workshop Social Justice: When Diversity Isn’t Enough.
Outstanding Volunteers
Bea Jenkins
As an organizer for the Operating Engineers, Bea has been involved with OTI through presentations to TACC. However, in 2015 she decided to volunteer with us and jumped in with both feet! First, she started as a member of the Tradeswomen Leadership Institute planning committee. In January of last year, I don’t think Bea knew exactly how big of a role she would play. Ultimately, she ended up being one of the storytellers for Tradeswomen Stories. She also recruited her good friend, Merilee McCall, to be the keynote speaker for the event!
Sho is on the left.
Sho Newman
This incredible woman will sneak quietly under your radar, but she is a force to be reckoned with. Last year, Sho was holding down two jobs, one being her Carpenter’s apprenticeship and then another just to fill up those free hours on the weekend. However, she didn’t let this stop her from being a Lead on our new Volunteer Outreach Team. Sho, and her team, really moved this forward helping OTI staff represent our mission at community events. She recruited folks who had never been involved with OTI and was always bringing a friend (or two!) to social hours.
Shondra Washington
If you have met Shondra, you may not believe that she just graduated from OTI last year. Out of the gate, Shondra was representing OTI, Tree Trimmers, and workers’ right at the 2015 Summer Institute for Union Women. Of course, she didn’t stop there. Shondra regularly presents for TACC. While most people shy away from fundraising efforts, she has also advocated for OTI on this front, presenting to groups about funding OTI and being featured in our 2015 Give Guide Campaign.
I hope you can join OTI staff in recognizing these amazing volunteers. If you are friends with them on Facebook, give them some love and some kudos! Send them a sweet text. Or, best of all, come out and give them a round of applause at our Annual Meeting.
Guest Blog: Why Women Play Such an Important Role in Home Improvement Trades
Why Women Play Such an Important Role in Home Improvement Trades
By Katherine Oakes
When you think of women’s roles in home improvement throughout history, it has been mostly associated only with the more superficial—yet just as important—aspect of interior design, style, and aesthetics. This sort of labeling and compartmentalizing has created a bottleneck in the industry of home improvement for the different jobs available to women and has left a large gap in between both genders and their respective roles. At Modernize, we know that a love for home improvement, no matter what kind, is something that can be appreciated by everyone.
Over the years, as the career landscape began to shift, women sought out opportunities for more physical and laborious jobs, and groups like Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. worked hard to pave the way and create equal opportunities. Now, more than ever, there are more women working in the home improvement industry, but in the physically-demanding sectors that would have otherwise been designated for men. This trend has been rising incrementally over time and for many interesting reasons, and much of it is happening because of the women in the workforce who want to make it that way.
In a Take Part article about why more employers are beginning to see things in a different light, Jesse Duran, a former military recruiter, says he “actively seeks out potential students, starting with the YouthBuild programs to get them young, because a girl who is told to put down that hammer or stop playing so rough may be getting cut off from the opportunity to gain experience before she even knows it exists.” The idea here is that, for some women, choosing a job that fits within a more traditional career path could potentially be avoided from a young age if those women’s strengths are outside of the boardroom.
Interestingly enough, there has even been more of a demand for women in this workforce as Take Part notes, “Duran said his job placing women is getting easier. He asked the unions what they were looking for, and all said they want someone who can do the work, no matter what gender, and they meant it. Many bosses are clamoring to hire women in the trades, because companies like Avon have stipulated they need at least 15 percent of workers on building projects in New York City to be women”. So with all of this new information at their fingertips, women who would rather see more opportunities available to them and others in the home improvement trade have the right to feel invigorated and inspired to keep going. So long as there is a demand for gender equality and diversity then, it seems, that more even doors will continue to be opened for them.
Congress Passes Extension on WANTO Training Funds!
Senator Jeff Merkley at the 2012 Women in Trades Career Fair
We’re thrilled to announce that the Women in Apprenticeship and Non Traditional Occupations (WANTO) program has received funding for another year! Along with our co-grantees ANEW, Tradeswomen, Inc., NEW-NYC, and Chicago Women in Trades, Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. advocated for the renewal of the WANTO program, which remains the only source of federal funding that specifically targets women’s participation in apprenticeship.
Together in a coalition with our co-grantees, OTI worked closely with the staff of U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, whose leadership was instrumental to getting WANTO funds included in the federal budget.
“Women hold less than three percent of high-wage jobs in the construction industry and face many barriers in gaining access to these nontraditional jobs,” said Merkley. “I’ve fought for funding for WANTO because it will make a big difference in helping train and ultimately put women in Oregon to work in high-wage, electrical, mechanical, highway and utility trades jobs that will provide financial security for a lifetime.”
Senator Ron Wyden with TACC instructor Amy at the “Sugar Shack” in Northeast Portland
We’re proud of the work that we have accomplished with WANTO funds, which are critical to our ability to provide training to low income women at no cost to them. This fall, students in our WANTO-funded Trades and Apprenticeship Career Class inspired community partners and Oregon leaders through their work to demolish and repurpose the former “Sugar Shack” strip club into a Cully neighborhood asset. We were fortunate to be able to share that work with U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, who stopped by the job site after learning about our community partnership.
We’re thankful to our allies in the Senate who heard our call and took action on behalf of women everywhere.
Thank You to The Stimson-Miller Foundation
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. (OTI) is honored to have been selected as a recent grantee of The Stimson-Miller Foundation in support of our Pathways to Success program.
This $8,000 grant will support Pathways to Success, OTI’s job training and employment program to help low-income women move out of poverty into a high-wage, skilled trades career. Pathways to Success fosters the economic self-sufficiency of low-income women by providing job training, support services, job placement and retention services for women entering high-wage trades careers. Grant funds will pay help for student support services (such as hard hats, rain gear, boots, and tools), student transportation (for field trips to apprenticeship training centers and construction job sites), and a portion of staff time of our employment services team. With support from The Stimson-Miller Foundation, OTI will inform 960 women about trades career opportunities, train 90 women in the Trades and Apprenticeship Career Class, and graduate 72 women with the skills to enter the building and construction trades careers!
The purpose of the Stimson-Miller Foundation is to carry on the charitable interests and concerns of the owners of Stimson Lumber Company, in the greater Portland area and communities throughout the United States where Stimson conducts its business and areas where Company shareholders reside or have charitable-giving interests.
Thank you again to The Stimson-Miller Foundation for their ongoing support of our work to train and educate low-income women about living-wage trades careers. Visit The Stimson-Miller Foundation website to learn more about their work.
Annual Meeting – January 28
Save the Date for Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc.’s Annual Meeting
Thursday January 28, 2016
5:30 pm – 8:00 pm
La Carreta Mexican Restaurant
4534 SE McLoughlin Blvd.
Portland, OR 97202
Join us!
Come and spend an evening with OTI staff and all of the tradeswomen you haven’t seen for awhile. It is a big gathering to kick off the new year!
Delicious Food!
OTI will be providing food for you to enjoy. No host bar.
Prizes!
What? Yes, this year OTI will have a raffle of some great items. Including a pair of binoculars, an energy audit by Enhabit, CDs, t-shirts, coffee cups, and more!
We hope to see you there!
Business Membership Spotlight: Walsh Construction Co.
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. welcomes the support of the business community to help us fulfill our mission to engage more women in the trades.
Walsh Construction Co. is one of our partners in this program and we thank them for their contribution to OTI.
“It started in 1961 when two young brothers, Tom and Bob Walsh, who had an idea for a business, created Walsh Construction. They were college students with limited funds, so the shoe box served as their filing cabinet and the Chevy van as their transportation.
Over the years, they made smart decisions, seized opportunities, developed innovative approaches, and asked people who shared their passion for building the Northwest to come along with them as they grew into something extraordinary.
Those characteristics endure to this day. At WALSH, we’re always focused on building Smart, building Green and building Community. Just as importantly, we’re focused on the people who join us for the ride.”
OTI thanks the staff of Walsh Construction Co. for their support of our programming as a business membership program participant!
If you want to learn more about our business membership program, please send an email to dennise@tradeswomen.net for details on how you can be involved.
Congratulations Trades and Apprenticeship Career Class Graduates!
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. cordially invites you to attend our Trades and Apprenticeship Career Class Graduation!
Date:
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Time:
5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Location:
The Auditorium
PCC Metro Workforce Training Center
5600 NE 42nd Avenue
Portland OR 97218
Click for the street address on Google Maps
Light appetizers & cake will be served
Fall 2015 TACC Graduates and Their Trade Goal
Cherokee Andrade – Tree Trimmer
Ashley Cooper – Sheet Metal Worker
Debra Crowley – Carpenter
Ali Foster – Carpenter
Felicity “Fuzz” Jackson – Carpenter
Hannah Johnsen – Carpenter
Bre Lackey – Sheet Metal Worker
Alex Mays – Electrician
Jamie Metcalf – Environmental Remediation
Rachel Meyer – Tree Trimmer
Carlee Ogle – Carpenter
Sara Quinn – Electrician
Yolanda Sandoval – Electrician
Maija Schurter – Carpenter
Misty Sedotal – Carpenter
Mercy Shammah – Carpenter
Crystal Siltman – Sheet Metal Worker
Rose Swartz – Carpenter
Kelsey Wollam – Pile Driver
Funding for our program is provided by:
Advantis GROW Community Fund, Bank of America, The Boeing Company, Construction Apprenticeship & Workforce Solutions, Inc. (CAWS), the Environmental Protection Agency, H.W. Irwin and D.C.H. Irwin Foundation, Hoover Family Foundation, Kaiser Permanente Community Fund at the Northwest Health Foundation, Multnomah Bar Foundation Multnomah County, Oregon Department of Transportation, Pacific Power Foundation, Penney Family Fund, a member of The Common Counsel Foundation, the Portland Development Commission’s Economic Opportunity Program, Stimson-Miller Foundation, The TJX Foundation, U.S. Bank, The Portland Water Bureau and Hoffman Construction through the Community Benefit Agreement, Wells Fargo, Women’s Bureau–U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Foundation of Oregon, Worksystems, Inc., industry donations, and individual tradeswomen and supporters.
OTI In the News in November
Wow! Oregon Tradeswomen was in the news multiple times earlier in November! We made a lot of noise about the first ever National Women in Apprenticeship Day, and we invited members of the media to visit our Trades and Apprenticeship Career Class during their hands on learning days when they were hard at work deconstructing and demolishing the interior of the former ‘Sugar Shack’. This work opportunity was made possible through our partnership with Living Cully – an innovative collaboration between non-profit organizations in the Cully Neighborhood in NE Portland: Verde, Hacienda CDC and NAYA (Native American Youth and Family Center).
Women in Apprenticeship Day
Oregonian
Daily Joural of Commerce
NW Labor Press
Deconstruction of Sugar Shack
Daily Journal of Commerce
KATU
KGW
Portland Business Journal
PQ Monthly
Partner Spotlight: Sheet Metal Institute
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. is most grateful for the support of community and industry in our work in promoting the success for women in the trades through education, leadership and mentorship. We do this, in large part, working with our partners in a variety ways, including the coordination of field trips for our Trades and Apprenticeship Career Class participants.
TAC class is a free, 7-week, pre-apprenticeship training class that helps women prepare for a high skill, high wage career in construction. Over the course of the session, women visit several sites like the Sheet Metal Institute.
The center is a registered non-profit joint labor-management training trust between the Sheet Metal Workers Local Union #16 and Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association – Columbia Chapter. It offers approved training programs in three occupations including Sheet Metal Worker, Sheet Metal Worker Service Technician and Residential Sheet Metal Worker.
Kim Neel is a career counselor and job placement specialist for OTI. She coordinates the field trips and I asked her to share some thoughts about our appreciation for the center and the employees who operate it:
“I always make it a priority to make it to the Sheet Metal Institute, because so often many women do not understand what sheet metal workers do. Kevin does a remarkable job of walking them through the process of understanding the scope of the industry as well as its history. He has a great way of getting our students excited not only about the variety of the work, but also the mathematical and mental challenges it brings. They are naturally drawn to the industry because of his organized delivery.
Kevin Roth – Training Coordinator
At the beginning of class, we ask all the students what trade they are interested in. Few students ever say Sheet Metal at the start of class. When they graduate we almost always have women who enthusiastically say sheet metal after visiting the training center. The training staff is VERY patient and are great at explaining how and why they are doing what they are doing when they give them a hands on task. The training center also invests in our students and gives them a hands on experience which is invaluable. The students often tell me….”It was when I got my hands on the tools that I fell in love with the trade.” I love that they invest the time and resources into our students. It really shows their commitment to diversify their trade and I respect that a lot.”
— Kim Neel, Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc.
Thanks to the entire staff of Sheet Metal Institute for their years of support as a field trip host but also for their long standing support of our annual Women in Trades Career Fair. If you want to learn more about their programs, see their web site for complete details.
— Dennise M. Kowalczyk, Development Director