Support OTI
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!
In Kind Donations Make a World of Difference
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. relies on the support of community on a number of levels. We welcome financial support from donors, private foundation, government granting entities and private business.
Thank You!
We also receive generous gifts in the form of goods and services from local businesses and community based organizations like Atomic Direct and The Rebuilding Center.
Atomic Direct donated tools and miscellaneous gear for our recent Social Hour Tool & Gear Swap. The towels, assorted hand tools, drill kits and other gear were very popular with the tradeswomen who attended the event. Atomic Direct builds brand awareness for a variety of clients using direct response television and is based in Portland. The company was also one of our partners in last year’s Give!Guide campaign.
OTI has been working with The ReBuilding Center on N. Mississippi for quite some time and we recently returned to the center seeking 80 feet of CVG material for a project in our office. The center came through with a generous donation so our Pathways training program can now finish a project building out a mezzanine here at our office.
The ReBuilding Center, a project of Our United Villages, is a vibrant resource working to strengthen the environmental, economic, and social fabric of local communities. The center includes DeConstruction Services, a sustainable alternative to conventional demolition, and will soon be launching ReFind Education, featuring workshops and classes on how to safely and creatively work with used building materials. They also offer a free pick-up service, purposeful volunteer opportunities, and donations of used building materials for community projects.
OTI thanks Atomic Direct and The ReBuilding Center for their generosity. If you are interested in our in kind donations program as a method of supporting OTI’s mission, please send an email to dennise@tradeswomen.net.
Thank you, Bank of America!
Women in Metals and Manufacturing
The Bank of America Charitable Foundation has named Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. (OTI) as a 2015 Neighborhood Builder! OTI is being recognized for our efforts in workforce development. The Neighborhood Builders is currently marking its 11th year as the largest investment in nonprofit leadership development and organizational longevity. Locally, through Neighborhood Builders, Bank of America has invested $3.8 million and supported 38 emerging leaders at 19 Portland-area nonprofit organizations.
With the help of this funding from Bank of America, OTI will add a manufacturing workforce development program to help women and girls learn about, prepare for, and enter manufacturing careers. The program will build upon our successful pre-apprenticeship program that prepares 80 women a year for industry careers and educates more than 1,200 girls annually about their future opportunities in the trades. OTI will work with a variety of manufacturing industry partners to adopt or create a manufacturing-focused curriculum to prepare women for successful manufacturing careers.
Two-thirds of the manufacturing sector’s jobs require less than an associate’s degree. Jobs such as welder, machinist, millwright, computer-controlled machine operator, inspector, production and warehouse worker are all projected to have a high number of openings in the next few years. In fact, the manufacturing industry in the Portland metro area alone boasts more than 87,000 jobs with a payroll close to $7 million.
New Member Benefit: Clinton Street Theater!
Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. is thrilled to announce a new benefit for members of OTI: two for one entry into general screenings at the historic Clinton Street Theater in Southeast Portland!
The mission of the theater to support the community through the power of independent film and live events. They accomplish this by creating a safe and welcoming environment where people can be true to themselves while learning about the world around them. They value direct contact with each other in an effort to build a collective, social experience, encouraging a world rich with diversity and unique points of view.
A landmark of Portland cinema history, The Clinton Street Theater is one of the oldest operating movie houses in the United States. Opening in 1915 as the Clinton, the theater became the 26th Avenue Theatre in 1945 and the Encore in 1969. In 1976 it reverted to its original name.
Famous for its long-standing exhibition of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, the theater is currently a magnet for independent / revival films. In April of 2012, the Clinton Street Theater was purchased by Roger and Lani Jo Leigh. It has a revolving cast of volunteers and film freaks who enjoy helping support its existence. Most recently, the CST has been visited by local celebrities Chuck Pahlhinuk, Tom Potter and Gus Van Sant.
Click here for showtimes and other information. OTI thanks the Clinton Street Theater for its support of our work in the community! Make sure you have a current OTI membership card when you to check out a screening as you need it in order to get the buy one, get one free entry.
See you at the movies!
January 2015 – Oh, what a month!
All kinds of love headed OTI’s way since my last post about such matters. It is so thrilling to hear from our members how much they love OTI and how they join us in our collective vision to help women pursue work in the trades.
At our recent annual meeting, we visited with almost 70 attendees to talk about what we did accomplish over the past year and all the great opportunity that is available to us in 2015.
Please visit our Facebook page to see more photos from our Annual Meeting!
Our accomplishments for 2014 include:
• 79 women graduated from our Pathways pre-apprenticeship program in 2014.
• We helped 88 women get their first job in the trades or move up to apprenticeship.
• 75 graduates landed their first job in the trades with an average hourly wage of $15.18.
• 1441 girls and educators attended our annual Women in Trades Career Fair.
• 76 girls attended our Summer Girls Construction Camp through our Building Girls program.
We also gave away great raffle prizes! Thanks to Portland Spirit, Tradeswomen, Inc., Miss Zumstein Bakery & Coffee Shop, Ristretto Roasters, and Hankins Hardware for donating some really sweet prizes. A special shout out of thanks to Doris, our amazing volunteer, who did the work at getting most of these goodies into our hands.
We received great news from these foundations as they sent us very generous support for our various programs:
- NW Health Foundation – $50,000 – Building Equity – Creating a Construction Culture that Supports Women and People of Color
- The Autzen Foundation- $3,000 – Building Girls
- The Jim & Dianna Murphy Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation – $10,000 – Supporting programs that encourage girls and women to explore careers in transportation and trucking
THANK YOU!!!
I had the pleasure of hand delivering several certificates of appreciation to a few of our long-time sponsors of our annual career fair. I visited with NW Natural, RR Donnelley, PacifiCorp and Gunderson.
Our 2015 Career Fair is taking place May 14 – 16 — learn more here!
If you wish to make a tax-deductible donation to OTI today in order to support our efforts to promote success for women and girls in the trades through education, leadership, and mentorship, please click here – thank you!
— Dennise M. Kowalczyk (Development Director)
Fifty Licks Ice Cream Fundraising Event for OTI
Fifty Licks was so inspired by the Willamette Week Give!Guide that they stepped up to support every one of the 137 local nonprofits that were featured in 2014! Starting on December 28th, they have dedicated one day to each nonprofit and will donate 10% of proceeds! They have devoted Thursday, January 22nd to OTI!
They offer an array of seasonal flavors, classics, and even sorbet for those who avoid dairy. They also offer amazing hot chocolate, cocktails, and a daily happy hour from 3:00pm – 6:00 pm.
You can learn more about Chad, the owner of the 50 Licks ice cream, check out a recent interview with him on Right at the Fork, a local food-centric podcast.
You can click this link for the event on Facebook if you would like to share it and invite your friends to participate!
Details:
Thursday, January 22
3:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Fifty Licks Ice Cream
2021 SE Clinton Street
Portland OR 97202
We hope to see you there!
OTI’s Annual Meeting
Save the Date for OTI’s Annual Meeting!
Thursday January 29, 2015
5:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Location:
Old Town Brewing
5201 Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Portland, OR 97211
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 fill your belly. We will have free food at the event to cover your dinner needs. No host bar.
Prizes!
What? Yes, this year OTI will have a raffle of some great items, including to tickets for a Radical 80s Cruise generously donated by the Portland Spirit!
Supporting OTI
I just wrapped up my third week as Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc.’s new development director and it feels like I have been here three months! I mean that in the most complimentary sense to convey how easy my colleagues have made it for me to start in my new role in overseeing fundraising, communications and marketing activities for OTI. So much great work had been done by the staff leading up to my first day and I am very grateful because it made my start that much easier.
Over the next 30 days or so, I’ll be reaching out to donors and community partners to say “hello” and more importantly, “thank you” because we simply cannot promote success for women in the trades through education, leadership and mentorships all alone. It will take each one of us to realize the goal to increase the opportunities for women in the trades.
I’ve been learning all about why we do this important work with statistics like these as some that are surely providing the motivation to make some serious changes in the United States:
- Women still comprise less than 3% of the skilled trades labor force and apprenticeships. In comparison, women now comprise 36% of paramedics, 35% of athletes/coaches/umpires, 15% of the military, and 12% of police officers.
- Another compelling statistic is that 50% of all of the Registered Apprenticeship Programs in Oregon do not have a single woman apprentice in their program.
Clearly, we have a long way to go with regards to women in the trades and I hope you will join us by supporting our programs with a financial contribution before December 31. We are participants in this year’s Willamette Week Give!Guide and all donations will be matched – dollar for dollar – up to $5,000 due to the generous support of our partners, Clean Energy Works Oregon and Atomic Direct.
I look forward to meeting all the people behind the success of our various programs: Pathways, Building Girls and T.O.O.L.S. We also host a fun career fair in the spring. Please let me know if you have any questions about how you can help OTI reach even newer heights in advocating for women in the trades!
— Dennise M. Kowalczyk