In June 2021, Illinois received a State Apprenticeship Expansion, Equity and Innovation Grant for approximately $6 million from the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) to develop, modernize and diversify Registered Apprenticeships in Illinois. The objective of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to diversify apprenticeship programs and find innovative ways of employing the apprenticeship model to meet the needs of businesses, resulting in a total of 750 new registered apprenticeship programs by the end of 2024. Learn more about this funding opportunity.

This Women's History Month the National Center for Women's Equity in Apprenticeship and Employment released its newest brief, Here to Stay: Black, Latina and Afro-Latina Women in Construction Trades Apprenticeships and Employment. The brief offers compelling stories of tradeswomen's experiences, opportunities and challenges, and also offers recommendations for construction apprenticeships, unions and contractors on how to best address the intersection of race and gender in supporting women's entry and success in the skilled construction trades. We hope you can join and we'd appreciate your help circulating the report and this invite to a webinar discussing the report to your industry leaders and registered apprenticeship programs.

Diversity is key for the future of the construction trades. While the numbers of Black and Latina women in trades apprenticeships have been increasing rapidly, still fewer than one-in-twenty five apprentices are women. A new report lifts up the voices of Black, Latina, and Afro Latina early career tradeswomen on what helps and hinders their success in the trades. Join IWPR and Chicago Women in the Trades for this webinar to learn about the new report, hear from Black and Latina tradeswomen about their experiences, and from construction trades leaders and organizers on what they are doing to tackle racism, harassment, and discrimination to create a welcoming and supportive environment for all in the trades. Speakers include: · Christina Barillas, Plumbers Women's Committee and Latina Labor Coalition · Lilly Calderon, Bricklayers Union · Chandra Childers, PhD, Institute for Women's Policy Research · Zahrah Hill, Plumbers Local 130 · Lark Jackson (Moderator), Chicago Women in the Trades · Kina McAfee, Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters Apprenticeship Training Program.

Read the brief here.

• Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Program to be Revoked by President
  
• NPR Marketplace: Unemployed workers go back to school to get back to work
• Crain's Chicago Business: How apprenticeships and vocational training can help narrow the wealth gap
• Information on HR 447, the National Apprenticeship Act of 2021, which was passed by the House of Representatives and is supported by the Biden Administration 
• Apprenticeship.gov came out with a new resource page on Delivering Apprenticeships Virtually, which creates a one-stop shop for how-to resources, promising practices, and steps to help sponsors and RTI providers transition to virtual delivery.  
• You may have seen the recent article from The Hechinger Report looking at sexual harassment and discrimination, as well as improvements, within male-dominated construction trades apprenticeships. As you work to expand the number of women in and successfully completing Registered Apprenticeships across the full range of occupations, several resources might help: 
• The Expanding Women in Apprenticeship page on WorkforceGPS 
• Our Innovation Cohort Resource Page (will be active through May 1) 
• The Apprenticeship Expansion Element 4: Development of a Pipeline & Steps to Increase Diversity page on WorkforceGPS 
• Diversity & Inclusion page on Apprenticeship.gov