Last week, Grace Outreach students attended a presentation from Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW). NEW graduate and ambassador, Nora Vega, shared information about the empowering programming offered at NEW and her own experiences as a woman working in the typically male dominated field of construction.
NEW offers women free preapprenticeship training that provides them with the basic skills and knowledge to begin work in the construction, facilities maintenance, transportation, and energy industries. Through hands on training, classroom instruction, job placement assistance and extensive support services, NEW helps women secure union jobs that lead to stable careers and long-term financial security.
Nora, a graduate of NEW and member of the District Council of Carpenters Union – Local 157, shared stories about her experiences at NEW and in the Carpenters’ Union. Not only was her presentation informative but also extremely motivational and compelling. Students were engaged and had many questions about her journey. Their main takeaways: NEW is an invaluable resource for women, the importance of hard work and personal excellence cannot be understated, women need to see each other as allies and not competition, and women can thrive in any career that they choose. Nora embodies all of these truths and she energized the women. About a dozen students signed up to receive more information about NEW and explore potential careers as tradeswomen.