Portland observer., April 11, 2012, SPECIAL EDITION, Page 13, Image 13

A p r il II. 2012
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Page 13
S P E C IA L E D IT IO N
Alberta
North. Portland
County
Beaverton
Women Ready for Green Jobs
Non-profit
dedicated to
the success in
the trades
by M indy C ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
D edicated to the success and
em pow erm ent o f women in the
trades, one local organization is
on a m ission to help women pur­
sue em ploym ent in the growing
green jobs industry, which con­
tinues to open up new opportuni­
tie s fo r w o rk in g re s id e n ts
throughout the country.
Founded in 1989 as a small sup­
port group led by four tradeswomen,
including an elevator constructer,
two carpenters and an operating
engineer, Oregon Tradeswomen,
Inc. became a non-profit in 1999 to
help women pursuing jobs in build­
ing, labor, mechanical, electrical and
utility trades attain economic and
job security.
Today, the organization has
helped thousands of women be­
come successful employers and
empowered individuals through the
organizations free pre-apprentice­
ship training programs, workshops
and career resources.
“Our role is to help women learn
about these exciting blue collared
fields that have great pay and ben­
efits and are typically very reward­
ing work,” said executive director
Connie Ashbrook. “Once woman
learn these jobs are available and
know how to get into them, with our
help, they are very enthusiastic
about working in the trades.”
Although a handful of pre-ap­
p re n tic e sh ip p ro g ram s e x ist
throughout the state, Ashbrook said
Oregon Tradeswomen is the only
training program in Oregon that fo­
cuses exclusively on women.
One goal of the organization is to
eliminate the myth that you have to
be big and beefy to be successful in
the trades. “The truth is that all
kinds of people of many sizes and
shapes are very successful,” she
said.
Ashbrook, who worked as an
elevator constructer for 14-years,
Anjeanette brown, a graduate of the pre-apprenticeship program with the non-profit Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc., a group dedicated to
the success of women in the trades industry.
Johnetta Abraham, a graduate of the pre-apprenticeship program
with Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc., is on a journey to become a
cement mason to support her family.
said she knows from first-hand ex­
perience that women, who often
don’t realize these jobs exist, can be
successful in these fields.
After hands-on-skill training with
power tools, field trips to job sites
and apprenticeship training centers,
classroom learning with speakers
from the trades, and education in
math and measuring skills, she said
the women gain an understanding
of construction culture and begin to
build a career plan.
“The training provides our stu­
dents with the skills they need to be
successful,” she said. “Last year,
116 women graduated from the
seven-week training program, and
82 o f our graduates got jobs right
away.”
Although women make up al­
most 50 percent of the workforce
nationwide, they make up a mere
three percent in skills trades.
In Oregon, however, the num­
bers are higher than they are nation­
ally because of our work, she said.
The Safeway Foundation, after
recognizing O TI’s commitment to
the su ccess o f w om en in the
workforce, presented a grant award
last week o f $5,000 to Oregon
Tradeswomen, Inc. at their north­
east store location on Northeast
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The funding will provide critical
support services to students gradu­
ating from O TI’s free, pre-appren­
tice program and will assist women
in acquiring the necessary attire and
tools needed to start work in the
construction trades, such as safety
continued
on page 20