National Women in Apprenticeship Day Social Media Campaign

ValerieRoofSawing898A5798

It’s great that you are as excited as we are about National Women in Apprenticeship Day, Thursday November 5, 2015. Thank you for joining us to make the presence of women in apprenticeship known far and wide. We all know that apprenticeship itself is a very misunderstood concept and within that system, women are unseen. In order to bring this issue to the forefront, we have some tips for a Facebook post to contribute to the campaign and a national conversation. The tips below will give you a chance to let your friends and family know what you do, while connecting to other tradeswomen to create a larger impact!

Anatomy of the Facebook Campaign Post:

In order for you post to have the most effect, make sure that you specify for these posts to be ‘public’.

The Photo:

For this campaign, let’s show the world that women in apprenticeship work! Include a photo (or a video if you have it) of yourself on a job site or doing trades work. Here are some samples to inspire you!

The Text:

You should talk about your experience, your life, your apprenticeship. You want to let your networks know what you do and what that means to you! So, we aren’t crafting your post for you. However, here are some tidbits we are trying to highlight:

  • Announce the first ever National Women in Apprenticeship Day, Thursday, November 5th, 2015
  • Explain that apprenticeship means you get an education and paid on the job training!
  • Talk about getting a life-long career, not just a job
  • Share your story, about how apprenticeship changed your life
  • Let folks know that women only comprise 3% of apprentices, nationally

The ‘Hashtag’ (or the connection to a larger campaign!):

Hashtags are an important and essential part of creating a Facebook campaign. When you tag organizations or include hashtags, the connected flurry of activity means that those posts get seen more frequently. Then more people share your post, and the impact grows! So, don’t forget to include some hashtags.

  • Essential Hashtags:
    • @OregonTradeswomenInc
    • #WomenInApprenticeship
  • Hashtags for Extra Lift:
    • #Tradeswomen
    • #NAW2015
    • #20PercentBy2020
  • Tagging to Bring Your Union/Employer into the Circle:
    • Like your employer or local union and use – @EmployerFacebookAccountName
    • Like your international union and use – @InternationalUnionFacebookAccountName

Take it to the next level!

Add the Twibbon look to your Facebook and/or Twitter Account:

Over the past couple of months, you may have seen people change their profile pictures to have an overlay image. Maybe it was for Planned Parenthood with a pink picture that said “#StandwithPP” or Domestic Violence Awareness with a purple tint and a ribbon. Well, we now have a Twibbon for Women in Apprenticeship! It is a white hardhat that will go over the top of your current profile picture on either Facebook or Twitter.  To use this, go to Twibbon and search “Women in Apprenticeship”. Click on the link and allow it to access your Facebook or Twitter and the website will take care of the rest for you!

Bring the Conversation to Twitter:

For those of you who are active on Twitter already you can craft a short post ( I am #WomenInApprenticeship). Here are some rough ideas for people to tag that you could use on Twitter (in addition to those above!):

Your State Governor, State Labor Commissioner, or State Department of Labor

US Department of Labor, Valerie Jarrett (Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls), Labor Secretary Perez

Together, we can use National Women in Apprenticeship Day to really bring tradeswomen to the forefront!

How To: Facebook Campaign for Oregon Women in Apprenticeship Day

ValerieRoofSawing898A5798

It’s great that you are as excited as we are about National Women in Apprenticeship Day, Thursday November 5, 2015. Thank you for joining us to make the presence of women in apprenticeship known far and wide. We all know that apprenticeship itself is a very misunderstood concept and within that system, women are unseen. In order to bring this issue to the forefront, we have some tips for a Facebook post to contribute to the campaign and a national conversation. The tips below will give you a chance to let your friends and family know what you do, while connecting to other tradeswomen to create a larger impact!

Anatomy of the Facebook Campaign Post:

In order for you post to have the most effect, make sure that you specify for these posts to be ‘public’.

The Photo:

For this campaign, let’s show the world that women in apprenticeship work! Include a photo (or a video if you have it) of yourself on a job site or doing trades work. Here are some samples to inspire you!

The Text:

You should talk about your experience, your life, your apprenticeship. You want to let your networks know what you do and what that means to you! So, we aren’t crafting your post for you. However, here are some tidbits we are trying to highlight:

  • Announce National Women in Apprenticeship Day, 11/5/15
  • Explain that apprenticeship means you get an education and paid on the job training!
  • Talk about getting a life-long career, not just a job
  • Share your story, about how apprenticeship changed your life
  • Let folks know, that women only comprise 3% of the trades, nationally
  • You can support women in apprenticeship with a donation to your local tradeswomen organization, like Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. Donors who give a minimum of $10, today, will be eligible to be chosen to win 4 lower-level tickets to a Trailblazers game PLUS a signed jersey from a starter! Learn more at www.tradeswomen.net/donate.

The ‘Hashtag’ (or the connection to a larger campaign!):

Hashtags are an important and essential part of creating a Facebook campaign. When you tag organizations or include hashtags, the connected flurry of activity means that those posts get seen more frequently. Then more people share your post, and the impact grows! So, don’t forget to include some hashtags.

  • Essential Hashtags:
    • @OregonTradeswomenInc (In order to do this, make sure you already like our Facebook Page.)
    • @TradeswomenTaskforce
    • #WomenInApprenticeship
  • Hashtags for Extra Lift:
    • #Tradeswomen
    • #NAW2015
    • #GiveGuide
    • #20PercentIn2020
  • Hashtags to Bring Your Union/Employer into the Circle:
    • Like your employer or local union and use – @EmployerFacebookAccountName
    • Like your international union and use – @InternationalUnionFacebookAccountName

Take it to the next level!

Add the Twibbon look to your Facebook and/or Twitter Account:

Over the past couple of months, you may have seen people change their profile pictures to have an overlay image. Maybe it was for Planned Parenthood with a pink picture that said “#StandwithPP” or Domestic Violence Awareness with a purple tint and a ribbon. Well, we now have a Twibbon for Women in Apprenticeship! It is a white hardhat that will go over the top of your current profile picture on either Facebook or Twitter.  To use this, go to Twibbon and search “Women in Apprenticeship”. Click on the link and allow it to access your Facebook or Twitter and the website will take care of the rest for you!

Bring the Conversation to Twitter:

For those of you who are active on Twitter already you can craft a short post ( I am a woman in apprenticeship). Here are some rough ideas for extra hashtags that you could use on twitter (in addition to those above!):

Oregon Governor Kate Brown, Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian, Oregon Apprenticeship and Training Division

USDOL, US Women’s Bureau, Labor Secretary Perez

Together, we can use National Women in Apprenticeship Day to really bring tradeswomen to the forefront!

Making Connections: Innovative Changes

2015 Tradeswomen Leadership Institute

One of the magical moments of working at a non-profit is when you make a meaningful, useful, and unexpected connection. When this synthesis happens between two non-profits, it feels like community happening, the way it is meant to be.

For the second consecutive year, OTI connected with Innovative Changes for the Tradeswomen Leadership Institute. Although, I should pause to clarify, we actually work with them pretty often. On the surface, our missions seem disconnected but we send our students to them for financial planning education when entering the trades.

Innovative Changes assists low-income people build their long-term financial health. OTI is dedicated to promoting success for women in the trades through education, leadership, and mentorship.  OTI also serves many low-income women for whom a career in the trades is a pathway out of poverty. Plus, as many of you who work in the trades know, there is a huge transition to make financially when you begin to work in this industry. It is hard to resist a spending splurge when money first starts coming in but it is also difficult to be prepared in the event of a layoff! Innovative Changes help tradeswomen enter and then stay in the trades when they work directly with our students and graduates and also when they present at the Tradeswomen Leadership Institute.

We were so grateful to have their volunteer, Landra Glover return on Saturday, September 26 to talk to attendees about financial planning. Last year, she was so well received that the planning committee was thrilled to have her return. OTI hopes that we can continue to grow and develop this relationship into the future.

As you may know, the Women’s Foundation of Oregon also believes in the work of both of our organizations:  OTI and Innovative changes were the two winners of their 2015 Legacy Award. Thank you to WFO for supporting both of our organizations so that we can each have those magical  moments of connection and furthering our missions.

– Tiffany Thompson, Advocacy Program Manager

Recap: Storytelling and Workshops

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As most of you know, we started a new partnership this year with Back Fence PDX.  B. Frayn Masters, Mindy Nettifee, and Liz Olufson saw the importance of tradeswomen’s stories and jumped right into creating a storytelling event for OTI! Most folks don’t think twice about how much work an event involves from planning to recruiting to donations and every other little detail. The dedicated staff at Back Fence were there for us, every single step of the way, it was the type of partnership a non-profit dreams about.

This fabulous partnership led to the development of an exciting, appealing event. Demand from the community was even higher than we had expected, Back Fence and OTI fielded dozens of calls from people trying to get tickets at the last minute. We wish that every single person could have joined us, and that is why we hope to replicate this event next year. If you missed the event, you can watch videos from each of the story tellers online:

Sarah Heidler
Laurie Suchan
Jen Netherwood
Bea Jenkins

Of course, the event would not have been such a success without the support of the tradeswomen who took a big risk to get on stage.  We are so thankful to Sarah Heidler, Jen Netherwood, Laurie Suchan, Jodi Tillinghast, and Bea Jenkins. Hopefully, some of you are considering telling a story next year!

Friday night was a fun way to bond before we launched into the workshops for the Tradeswomen Leadership Institute. Tradeswomen volunteers, staff from AFSCME, the AFLCIO, and from LERC taught eight workshops for 47 women in attendance.  We kicked off the morning with a tour of Benson High School focused on their trades and manufacturing training. Did you know that approximately every two years, the students at Benson design and build a house from the ground up?

Marilee McCall inspired us all with her keynote address. She opened her life to us and shared her path to becoming Mayor Pro-Tem in Woodland, Washington. Marilee was heartfelt in telling her personal journey. Now, she faces challenges regularly for being a woman in leadership but it doesn’t slow her down and she revealed her own secret for dealing with Naysayers. Thanks to Marilee (and Bea for the connection) for showing us one path to leadership.

None of this would have even been possible if it weren’t for the amazing women on our planning committee: Anjeanette Brown, Maddie Ettlin, Irais Gandarilla, Sarah Heidler, Kadence Jimenez, Bea Jenkins, Leigh Jenkins,  and Jodi Tillinghast.

Thank you all so much and we look forward to an even more amazing Tradeswomen Leadership Institute in 2016!

An Update from OTI Graduate Sabryna Chase

Sabryna_Chase_October_2015

OTI received this wonderful photo and update from our amazing graduate, Sabryna Chase on the job at Gliss:

“This is me in the bottom of a giant, empty grain barge, repairing/replacing augurs (the giant corkscrew to my right…they move the grain). The picture is cloudy because of the grain dust all over my lens. 😉

I am holding a pipe wrench we use to turn those big bad boy augurs to access the nuts and bolts. Fun work! I don’t know why I love It but I do! :-)”

Way to go, Sabryna!!

 

 

 

Out and About: Alpha Delta Kappa

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(L to R) Shondra, Dennise and Thea

Recently, Dennise M. Kowalczyk (OTI’s development director) and Shondra Washington (a Trades and Apprenticeship Class graduate and tradeswoman) were asked to speak at the Alpha Delta Kappa Founder’s Day celebration.

The luncheon included an overview of the history of the group’s beginnings to provide a space for educators to gather and build a sisterhood of support. Alpha Delta Kappa is an international honorary organization of women educators dedicated to educational excellence, altruism and world understanding.

OTI thanks chapter president, Thea Hayes, for the invitation to speak and the entire chapter for their warm welcome!

Business Member Spotlight: TCB Industrial Corporation

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Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. welcomes the support of the business community to help us fulfill our mission to engage more women and girls in the trades.

TCB Industrial Corporation is one of our partners in this program and we thank them for their contribution to OTI.

The companies mission is to service the environmental community by providing a highly trained, reliable, and flexible labor pool, as well as to provide quality OSHA training that meets the standards of 29 CFR 1910.120 for Hazardous Waste Operations.  Contact them if you are in need of labor or 40hr Hazwoper training, or other training compliance.

TCB Industrial Corporation believes in providing, honest, hardworking, and professional technicians that can get the job done effectively and efficiently on time and budget no matter how big or small.

OTI thanks the staff of TCB Industrial Corporation for their support of our programming as a business membership program participant!

If you want to learn more about our business membership program, please send an email to dennise@tradeswomen.net for details on how you can be involved.