Last week, the Women’s Bureau announced the availability of nearly $1.3 million in grant funds to boost women’s participation and success in skilled jobs.
The WANTO Technical Assistance Grant Program is designed to help employers and labor unions recruit, train and retain women in apprenticeship and nontraditional occupations. This year, grant funds will be awarded to up to four community-based organizations to provide one or more of the following types of technical assistance:
- Developing pre-apprenticeship or nontraditional skills training programs;
- Providing ongoing orientations for employers, unions and workers; and/or
- Setting up support groups and facilitating networks for women.
Grantees may work with employers and labor unions in the full range of industries in which women are traditionally underrepresented or disproportionately concentrated in lower-wage occupations, including advanced manufacturing, energy, healthcare, information technology, and transportation.
Applications are due August 23, 2017. Click here to view the solicitation for grant applications. Find answers to frequently asked questions here.
To learn more about resources and opportunities for women in apprenticeship and nontraditional occupations, check out the Women’s Bureau’s Women Build, Protect and Move America portal.
DOL Seeking Members for Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion
U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta is inviting nominations for individuals to serve on a new Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion.
The Task Force is being convened as part of the Department’s efforts to implement President Trump’s Executive Order to expand apprenticeship in America.
The Task Force is responsible for identifying strategies and proposals to promote apprenticeships, especially in sectors where the current number of apprenticeship programs is insufficient. It will also submit to the President a final report detailing these strategies and proposals. Click here for more information about the Task Force.
Any interested person or organization may nominate one or more qualified individuals for membership on the Task Force. Nominations are due by August 8, 2017. Click here to view the Federal Register notice soliciting nominations for the Task Force.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
U.S. Department of Labor – Women’s Bureau – 200 Constitution Ave., NW – Washington, DC 20210
202.693.6710 (telephone) – 202.693.6725 (fax) – website: www.dol.gov/wb/