Support OTI
Tradeswomen Stories – September 25, 2015
The 2015 Tradeswomen’s Stories event is a unique opportunity to engage with both the trades industry and the art community. OTI is offering limited sponsorship participation to businesses seeking a unique community engagement opportunity.
This year’s Tradeswomen Leadership Institute will kick off with a compelling segement called Tradeswomen Stories: Whatever you do…don’t do that! Five tradeswomen will be immersed in the art of storytelling – sharing their true stories live and on stage – at one of Portland’s finest performance venues, Disjecta. This event will build community and create a powerful tool for tradeswomen to share their experiences.
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. is partnering with Back Fence PDX for this exciting event featuring local tradeswomen. Their stories are often invisible in discussions about construction. These women face incredible adversity and break significant barriers to get and retain jobs that have largely only been accessible to white men for generations. During the past year, apprenticeship, trades, and manufacturing have taken a prominent place in national conversation about workforce, economy, and employment.
TRADESWOMEN’S STORIES: Whatever you do…don’t do that!
Friday September 25, 2015
Doors at 6:30 pm
Show at 7:00 pm
18+ Only
Tickets available to purchase online.
Disjecta
8371 N Interstate Ave
Portland, OR 97217
Tradeswomen Leadership Institute 2014
Business Member Spotlight: P & C Construction
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. welcomes the support of the business community to help us fulfill our mission to engage more women and girls in the trades.
P & C Construction is one of our partners in this program and we thank them for their contribution to OTI. The company is a third generation, local business that has worked on several projects, including the Governor Hotel (now the Sentinel), the original Niketown, and Ronald McDonald House.
OTI thanks the staff of P & C Construction for its 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.
Legacy Award Opportunity with Women’s Foundation of Oregon
On behalf of the staff, board members, and tradeswomen members of Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. (OTI), I am excited and honored to share that OTI is a finalist for a Legacy Award grant from the Women’s Foundation of Oregon.
The Women’s Foundation of Oregon has a vision for Oregon where every woman and girl can thrive. This vision resonates significantly with the work and mission of OTI, which is dedicated to promoting the success for women in the trades through education, leadership, and mentorship. Our work is vital for women and girls in our state because we want to make sure that every woman and girl in Oregon knows about living-wage trades careers and that they can succeed at them. For women living in poverty, long-term economic security can be made possible if they enter the blue-collar professions such as carpenter, electrician, cement mason, machinist, and a variety of other skilled trades careers. OTI supports the vision put forth by the Women’s Foundation of Oregon by creating accessible pathways for low-income women and girls to thrive in all realms of life through living-wage trades careers that are in high demand from industry.
The members of the Women’s Foundation of Oregon will be voting on the finalist for the Legacy Award over the next two weeks. Please watch this compelling video they produced to introduce the three finalists for the Legacy Award:
We appreciate this tremendous opportunity to share our work with the diverse membership of the Women’s Foundation of Oregon. Thank you for considering Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. for this investment in helping women and girls in Oregon thrive to their fullest potential!
Nike Employee Grant Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation awards OTI
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. (OTI) has received a generous $15,000 grant from the Nike Employee Grant Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation to support OTI’s Building Girls program’s Building Girls Working Together – a trades work experience in which low—income young women learn the value of on-the-job training and the rewards and benefits of a trades careers within an all-female learning environment.
“We are thrilled to receive this gift from The Nike Employee Grant Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation and are honored for their support of our program to introduce young women to careers they may not have otherwise ever considered possible,” said Katie Yablonsky, Building Girls Program Manager at OTI. “The curriculum of our program not only offers young women basic building and construction skills, but they will also receive various life-skills training to assist them in many aspects of their adult life such as nutrition, financial planning, and self-defense,” Yablonsky concluded.
OTI’s Building Girls Work Crew addresses the lack of trades careers education and training for young women. For four weeks, low-income participants, ages 16-24, will work 3 days per week alongside skilled and experienced tradeswomen. The curriculum focuses on the proper and safe usage of power tools, lifting heavy supplies and tools, framing walls, installing metal roofing, and safety etiquette, all in a positive and supportive environment. Participants will gain the physical skills, self-esteem, and confidence necessary for a career previously considered non-traditional for women.
In addition to the hands-on experiences, the Building Girls Work Crew also provides education in nutrition, self-defense, financial management, resume writing, job-search skills, and typical job expectations. These wrap-around services will assist young women in developing the skills necessary to be successful in the workplace, whether they decide to enter a trades apprenticeship, entry-level trades job, or a non-trades career.
OTI is dedicated to promoting success for women in the trades through education, leadership, and mentorship. OTI is grounded in the principles that women deserve and can attain economic self-sufficiency through pursuing careers in the building, mechanical, electrical, utility, and highway construction trades while helping and encouraging the industry at large to build a diverse workforce.
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. thanks the employees of Nike and the Oregon Community Foundation for this generous gift!
Reward OTI with your Fred Meyer Points
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. is now part of the Fred Meyer Community Rewards program! Now when you do your shopping at Fred Meyer stores, you can link your rewards card to OTI and contribute to a quarterly donation!
Fred Meyer is donating $2.5 million per year to non-profits in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, based on where their customers tell them to give. Here’s how the program works:
• Sign up for the Community Rewards program by linking your Fred Meyer Rewards Card to OTI at www.fredmeyer.com/communityrewards. You can search for us by our name or by our non-profit number (87334).
• Then, every time you shop and use your Rewards Card, you are helping Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. earn a donation!
• You still earn your Rewards Points, Fuel Points, and Rebates, just as you do today.
• If you do not have a Rewards Card, they are available at the Customer Service desk of any Fred Meyer store.
Pacific Power Awards Grant to OTI
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. is pleased to announce a $5,000 grant awarded by Pacific Power Foundation for our Pathways to Success program.
The foundation awards grants to nonprofit organizations in the categories of education; civic and community betterment; culture and arts; and health, welfare and social services.
With a focus on apprenticeship, our Pathways to Success program offers the Trades and Apprenticeship Career Class (TACC). It is a 7-week, pre-apprenticeship training class that helps women prepare for a high skill, high wage career in construction.
This generous award will help fund student support services, such as books, work boots, tools, rain gear, and bus vouchers and assist staff in placing our students in trades careers and apprenticeships as well as develop relationships with local employers. Students graduate from the state-certified program with everything they need to start working in the trades, from to tools and work boots.
Learn more about our TAC Class or sign up for an information session about the class, the first step to enrollment in the program.
OTI thanks Pacific Power Foundation for its support of our program!
AmazonSmile
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. is excited to announce another way to support OTI!
AmazonSmile is a program where Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to OTI. Visit AmazonSmile to shop for your favorite books and support your favorite non-profit organization!
Get Involved in the 2015 Women in Trades Career Fair
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc.’s Women in Trades Career Fair is our largest (and most fun!) event of the year. With more than 30 interactive, hands-on workshops, it is a great way for girls and women to discover a future career. We serve about 2,000 women and girls over the course of three days. Without the help of volunteers, OTI wouldn’t be able to put on this event each year. Volunteers keep the event running smoothly and help with a variety of tasks. More than 100 volunteers cover 175+ shifts. Last year a volunteer commented on their participation in the Fair:
“I could tell that I was really needed to help the workshops run smoothly. There are a lot of schools in the building all at once and my presence let the workshop leaders do their job – teaching the girls. This was one of the better volunteer experiences I have had and I can’t wait to come back next year! Plus, you get lunch and really cool t-shirt.”
Please sign up to join the ranks of people who volunteer during the Women in Trades Career Fair and help us produce another fantastic event in 2015.
Guest Blog: Shaley Howard
Shaley Howard is a tireless supporter of Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc.. She has immense creativity, amazing energy, and she recently embarked on a little campaign to raise awareness and support for our mission. So…. we asked Shaley to contribute a guest blog post to share more about her generous efforts. We hope you enjoy Shaley’s inspiring words and these wonderful images.
Thank you, Shaley!
Why I Support Oregon Tradeswomen
Oregon Tradeswomen (OTI) is hands down one of my favorite non-profit organizations of all time! As a woman and self identified butch lesbian, I personally have found myself marginalized throughout my lifetime. And whether it’s some form of sexual discrimination or homophobia, I’m familiar with living in an intolerant, often ignorant world that tries to dictate what a woman’s role should be both personally and professionally. Luckily I was raised by a strong, intelligent, professional mother, four obnoxiously assertive and opinionated sisters and am surrounded daily by loads of powerful and strong-minded female friends. So the idea that any woman is pre-assigned a particular role or vocation in the world is asinine to me – and OTI.
I first learned about OTI when my friend Amy James Neel began teaching there years ago. I honestly had never heard of OTI before she started there, but the more I learned about the organization, the more I loved it. An all female run organization that brings in women from all walks of life, teaches them skills in the trades and then find them living wage jobs – that’s huge. I also know how important it is for children to have positive, strong and working parents as role models. OTI gives women the ability to obtain high wage paying jobs in the trades, enables them to provide for their families and show their kids that a woman can do anything a man can do. If we want to fight poverty, racism and sexism and to teach women skills that are applicable to the world we live in and give them above average living wages – then give them a support system like OTI has in place and make sure they are able to get and keep jobs.
As someone who doesn’t actually work at OTI yet whole-heartedly supports them, the best thing I can do is help raise awareness about what they offer to women and our community. Over the years I’ve tried to come up with creative ideas – anything from making my birthday a big OTI fundraiser to volunteering at their Women in the Trades Fair to writing blogs about OTI for PQ Monthly. I’ve also brought in coffee, cupcakes and other goodies for the hardworking women that work there – if anyone deserves the occasional treat it’s these women.
My latest idea came when I was lucky enough to be selected to be on a Timbers billboard for the Portland Timbers Football Club. I thought since the image is me looking all super tough and warrior like, what better way to shout to the world who the REAL strong warriors are – the women of OTI. So I put a challenge out to anyone and everyone who took a selfie in front of my billboard, posted it and donated to OTI – I would in turn donate $5 myself. And it seems to be working! Not only are we raising some money for OTI but perhaps more importantly we’re spreading the word about all the amazing things OTI does. Hopefully the next time I’m randomly talking about OTI I won’t get the question – what is OTI?
If anyone wants to take the Timbers billboard selfie challenge it’s located at Sandy and Burnside and NE 12th.
I cannot thank all the women of OTI enough for all you do for women and our community. Go on with your badass warrior selves and change the world!
A new way to support OTI: Donate Your Car!
Charity Connections is a program run by Volunteers of America Oregon, a nonprofit social services agency providing a hand up to more than 17,000 men, women and children in our community.
It supports more than 200 of Oregon’s top rated charities by processing their vehicle donations by working closely with a local auction house to get the most out of the donation for the designated nonprofit.
By donating your vehicle you will save yourself the hassle and expense of selling your vehicle. At the same time, you will be supporting a cause that you are passionate about: helping girls and women explore their opportunities to pursue living wage jobs in the trades. When you donate your car, boat, motor home, or motorcycle, Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. will greatly benefit from your donation.
This kind of donation is a substantial gift and will help offset costs in our programs that empower women to learn about working in the trades. Visit Charity Connections to make your donation. Thank you!
