Women on the Rise Awards
Women on the Rise award winners: Katie Kuchta, Isis Harris, Heather Mayther, and Carly Rush
On Thursday November 16, 2017 the whole country celebrated Women in Apprenticeship Day. This day is part of National Apprenticeship Week which was started during President Obama’s administration in 2015 as a call to action to increase the use of Registered apprenticeship to develop the skills of our nation’s workers and expand the talent pipeline available to U.S. Industries.
Heather Mayther, Left, with Amber McCoy, Representative Pacific Northwest Region Carpenters Institute
Aida Arranda, Apprenticeship Coordinator Oregon & S. Idaho Laborers with Katie Kuchta, and Dan Clark, General Superintendent, Skanska
While many organizations across the U.S. celebrated this year, Oregon Tradeswomen did something truly special. This year, we launched our 1st annual, “Woman on the Rise,” awards dinner. We asked four of our closest union apprenticeship partners in the Portland area to nominate four spectacular women apprentices in their program. These women are leaders, supporters of their community, and have shown excellence in their trade.
Kevin Roth, Training Coordinator Sheet Metal Institute, with Carly Rush
Carly Rush receives a hug from her proud daughter
In honor of these four award winners, Oregon Tradeswomen hosted a several course meal with the women, their friends, families, and apprenticeship coordinators to celebrate their achievements. Each apprenticeship representative spoke about their honoree with presentations and custom videos. We were also joined by Steve Simms from the state of Oregon’s Office of Apprenticeship, who gave a moving speech about the importance moving beyond just tolerance of women in the trades, to truly accepting women into these non-traditional fields.
Keith Edwards, IBEW Local 48 Member, Isis Harris, Pat Daniels of Constructing Hope, and Donna Hammond, IBEW Local 48 Member
Donna Hammond is ready to surprise Isis Harris with a bouquet of flowers
The quote of the night belongs to Donna Hammond from IBEW Local 48 who said,
“There is going to be hard work at every job, but do you want to do it for minimum wage or thirty-five dollars an hour?”
Special thanks to Oregon Tradeswomen staff member, Emma Brennan, who handmade toolboxes foe each of the award winners!