2015 Outstanding Volunteers

One of the highlights of my year is when I get to recognize the hard work of OTI’s volunteers. These folks often work behind the scenes and their contributions to our mission are so often missed! This year, I am excited to highlight four volunteers who have gone above and beyond to support OTI and tradeswomen.

Outstanding Board Member

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Irais Gandarilla  

If her face looks familiar, but you can’t quite place it, look back to your 2015 Women in Trades Career Fair materials. Irais was the face of brand new materials that feature real tradeswomen. She also represented our Board and the organization, acting a spokeswoman . The 2015 Tradeswomen Leadership Institute would not have been the same without her this year either, she served on the planning committee and, in partnership with Annie Burton, presented a workshop Social Justice: When Diversity Isn’t Enough.

Outstanding Volunteers

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Bea Jenkins

As an organizer for the Operating Engineers, Bea has been involved with OTI through presentations to TACC. However, in 2015 she decided to volunteer with us and jumped in with both feet! First, she started as a member of the Tradeswomen Leadership Institute planning committee. In January of  last year, I don’t think Bea knew exactly how big of a role she would play. Ultimately, she ended up being one of the storytellers for Tradeswomen Stories. She also recruited her good friend, Merilee McCall, to be the keynote speaker for the event!

Sho is on the left.

Sho is on the left.

Sho Newman

This incredible woman will sneak quietly under your radar, but she is a force to be reckoned with. Last year, Sho was holding down two jobs, one being her Carpenter’s apprenticeship and then another just to fill up those free hours on the weekend. However, she didn’t let this stop her from being a Lead on our new Volunteer Outreach Team. Sho, and her team, really moved this forward helping OTI staff represent our mission at community events. She recruited folks who had never been involved with OTI and was always bringing a friend (or two!) to social hours.

Shondra

Shondra Washington

If you have met Shondra, you may not believe that she just graduated from OTI last year. Out of the gate, Shondra was representing OTI, Tree Trimmers, and workers’ right at the 2015 Summer Institute for Union Women. Of course, she didn’t stop there. Shondra regularly presents for TACC. While most people shy away from fundraising efforts, she has also advocated for OTI on this front, presenting to groups about funding OTI and being featured in our 2015 Give Guide Campaign.

I hope you can join OTI staff in recognizing these amazing volunteers. If you are friends with them on Facebook, give them some love and some kudos! Send them a sweet text. Or, best of all, come out and give them a round of applause at our Annual Meeting.

 

Guest Blog: Why Women Play Such an Important Role in Home Improvement Trades

Why Women Play Such an Important Role in Home Improvement Trades

By Katherine Oakes

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When you think of women’s roles in home improvement throughout history, it has been mostly associated only with the more superficial—yet just as important—aspect of interior design, style, and aesthetics. This sort of labeling and compartmentalizing has created a bottleneck in the industry of home improvement for the different jobs available to women and has left a large gap in between both genders and their respective roles. At Modernize, we know that a love for home improvement, no matter what kind, is something that can be appreciated by everyone.

Over the years, as the career landscape began to shift, women sought out opportunities for more physical and laborious jobs, and groups like Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. worked hard to pave the way and create equal opportunities. Now, more than ever, there are more women working in the home improvement industry, but in the physically-demanding sectors that would have otherwise been designated for men. This trend has been rising incrementally over time and for many interesting reasons, and much of it is happening because of the women in the workforce who want to make it that way.

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In a Take Part article about why more employers are beginning to see things in a different light, Jesse Duran, a former military recruiter, says he “actively seeks out potential students, starting with the YouthBuild programs to get them young, because a girl who is told to put down that hammer or stop playing so rough may be getting cut off from the opportunity to gain experience before she even knows it exists.” The idea here is that, for some women, choosing a job that fits within a more traditional career path could potentially be avoided from a young age if those women’s strengths are outside of the boardroom.

Interestingly enough, there has even been more of a demand for women in this workforce as Take Part notes, “Duran said his job placing women is getting easier. He asked the unions what they were looking for, and all said they want someone who can do the work, no matter what gender, and they meant it. Many bosses are clamoring to hire women in the trades, because companies like Avon have stipulated they need at least 15 percent of workers on building projects in New York City to be women”. So with all of this new information at their fingertips, women who would rather see more opportunities available to them and others in the home improvement trade have the right to feel invigorated and inspired to keep going. So long as there is a demand for gender equality and diversity then, it seems, that more even doors will continue to be opened for them.