The Home Depot Foundation Partners with Girl Scouts to Launch Skilled Trades Training Program for Girl Scouts
New Experiential Workshops to Provide Girl Scouts with Training Opportunities and Continue the Foundation’s Missions to Fill and Diversify the Trades Industry
Photo Courtesy of The Home Depot Foundation
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The Home Depot Foundation announced a new strategic partnership with Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) to provide introductory trades training experience and career education for young women.
The Foundation and GSUSA will host the first-ever joint construction workshops for Cadette, Senior, and Ambassador level Girl Scouts (8th – 12th grades). This pilot program, launching in Fall 2021, will engage troops throughout Atlanta, Denver and Houston, providing hands-on experience with carpentry and other building construction trades. These skilled trades workshops will be led by female industry professionals and will offer career guidance and additional education touchpoints for young women seeking trades training opportunities.
In 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported data showing only 11% of construction workers and 27% of architecture and engineering professionals are women. Furthermore, the National Association of Home Builders’ 2019 Builder Member Census shared just 9% of their members are women and less than 0.5% are Black.
“The statistics undoubtedly underline the imbalance of talent and roles held by women within the construction trade industry,” said Shannon Gerber, The Home Depot Foundation’s executive director. “We recognized a natural intersection between the mission of The Foundation’s Path to Pro program and GSUSA’s focus on highlighting a variety of career pathways, leading to the creation of this joint effort. We’re proud to introduce this next step on our journey to preparing youth for the skilled trades, and we’re especially grateful to help bridge the opportunity gap for young women.”
“At Girl Scouts, we help girls discover who they want to be by introducing them to a wide variety of experiences to see what sparks their interest. From the very beginning, one of those experiences has been the skilled trades,” shared Suzanne Harper, senior director of national programs and partnerships. “We are thrilled to partner with The Home Depot Foundation to provide this innovative hands-on skilled trades experience that will allow girls to see themselves in these essential careers by connecting with role models to whom they can relate.”
To deepen this initiative, The Home Depot Foundation will extend scholarship opportunities to select high school senior Girl Scouts as part of its recently announced $250,000 Path to Pro scholarship program. This program grants financial assistance to eligible candidates for trade college or postsecondary programs.
About The Home Depot Foundation
The Home Depot Foundation works to improve the homes and lives of U.S. veterans, train skilled tradespeople to fill the labor gap and support communities impacted by natural disasters. Since 2011, the Foundation has invested more than $375 million in veteran causes and improved more than 50,000 veteran homes and facilities. The Foundation has pledged to invest half of a billion dollars in veteran causes by 2025 and $50 million in training the next generation of skilled tradespeople through the Path to Pro program.
Source The Home Depot Foundation via PR Newswire
