• Posted: August 18, 2022
• Apprentice, Apprenticeship, chicago women in trades, CWIT, Gene Kent, IBEW-NECA Technical Institute, IN-TECH, Sandra Brudent, Vinkeyoa Jones

 

For some apprentices in the trades, getting an up-close look at how the industry works comes after months spent studying in a classroom. For members of the Chicago Women in Trades (CWIT) Women Build Illinois Program, however, getting up-to-speed on the construction trades is a hands-on experience from day one. 

“We want to try to give them as much of a realistic experience as possible when it comes to being an apprentice,” said IBEW-NECA Technical Institute (IN-Tech) Director Gene Kent, who hosts CWIT apprentices at IN-Tech during their training. “We move through various classrooms to give them a taste of what an education in the trades looks like.”

The 10-week Women Build Illinois program was founded in 1981 to help support tradeswomen in their careers. It includes day classes, field trips, on-site instruction and more within the Cook County area. “We’ve been to carpenters, ironworkers, electricians, bricklayers, sheet metal plants, pipefitters and more,” said Women Build Illinois Case Manager Sandra Brudent.

With four week-long trips and a series of smaller day trips, apprentices quickly learn what it’s like to work in their field of interest. The initiative has been life-changing for many women interested in a career in the trades — including Vinkeyoa Jones, an apprentice at CWIT. 

“When I came in, I didn’t know much about any of the trades but I figured I wanted to be an ironworker,” Jones said. “When I went to Local 63, I loved it there and I loved the carpenter’s as well, but it feels different here. It feels like I fit here.”

In order to qualify for the program, prospective apprentices must be at least 18 years old, and have their highschool diploma or GED equivalent. Once accepted, participants quickly get up to speed on what’s required of them — and what their future as a tradeswoman might look like. 

Or, as IN-Tech Director Kent puts it: “It gives people not only a grasp of the industry that they might be entering, but a good idea of the culture of how unions operate in 2022.”