Legacy of Apprenticeship

As we begin to wrap up the 10th Annual National Apprenticeship Week, I wanted to revisit an article I wrote here seven years ago, about finding my grandfather’s Apprenticeship completion diploma. At the time, the California Apprenticeship Initiative (CAI) was just getting up to speed thanks to Governor Jerry Brown’s initial investment of $15 million in 2015, which was increased to $30 million annually by Governor Gavin Newsom. The Obama Administration’s American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) was in full swing using Federal Department of Labor funds, led by Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and Eric Seleznow’s team at the Employment Training Agency (ETA).

It was an exciting time when the California and US Apprenticeship network was growing, with new funding sources creating awareness and momentum that we hadn’t seen prior to the AAI and CAI grant programs. I was fortunate enough to be part of the CAI team for the initial RFA and those brave grantees paved the way for all that followed. Some were successful, some were not but we all learned and moved Apprenticeship forward across the country.

In the summer of 2017, when I wrote that article, we had a few good examples of non-traditional Apprenticeships developing in California and beyond. Careerwise Colorado was growing and showing us how to create real Youth Apprenticeships for high school students based on the Swiss model. Groups were making the trip to Switzerland annually to learn and bring that information back to the US. Intermediaries from the UK, Australia and the US were beginning to realize the potential to fill a need in the US. LAUNCH Apprenticeship was leveraging early CAI funding to grow in the Inland Empire and the Foundation for California Community Colleges was building a team to provide high-quality technical assistance across the state with Grow Apprenticeship California. And traditional RSI funding that supports the Building Trades and Firefighter programs in California was on the way to funding levels we never dreamed of when I began this work in 2008. All in support of both the Apprentices as well as employers who benefit from the formal and professional training provided to Apprentices and who pay the wages that enable the Apprenticeship to exist.

What do we have now that we did not in 2017? ?AIF and COYA funding from the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, significant increases in CAI and Federal Apprenticeship funding; the Northern California Apprenticeship Network (NCAN) and others nationally; Youth Apprenticeships in Education and IT built by Pam Knapp and ARCH; Apprenticeships For America; real technology to support programs with WorkHands, Apprenticescope and GoSprout to name a few; High Road Training Partnerships that have included Apprenticeship including new Joint Labor/Management programs in Manufacturing, Healthcare and Transportation, soon to be joined by Teacher Apprenticeships. We have an education community that is more flexible and thinking beyond their district boundaries to create regional Apprenticeship programs. Conferences and events, not just during this week, have many more people in the audience who are knowledgeable and seriously interested in Apprenticeship. All of this and much more.

For those of you who may be impatient with the pace of growth, I agree and encourage that impatience. However, let’s take this week to reflect on where we are now compared to 10 years ago and give thanks to the leaders, visible and behind the scenes, who got us to where we are now. Then, get right back to work, finding employers willing to participate in something that has a proven track record, dating not only back to 1927 when my grandfather graduated but centuries prior.

I have been wandering around LinkedIn this week looking for #Apprenticeship, #NAW2024, etc. and it showed me how much larger the community now is. If you have a few minutes, tag others to thank in the comments. I’ll add a few here today, but there are so many more.

Congratulations and thanks to you all, keep pushing forward.

Eric M. Seleznow Brent Parton Suzi LeVine Vinz Koller Eric Rood Stewart Knox Adele Burnes Van Ton-Quinlivan Tim Aldinger Joshua Modlin Krysti Specht Orrian Willis Allison Frenzel Pam Knapp Charles Henkels Kevin J Fleming, Ph.D. Sarah McGinn Kenneth Anyanwu Rebecca Hanson Joe Stark Noel Ginsburg Ryan Gensler Matt Regan Anita Gay Henry Bartholomay Tina Donovan Kelly Allison Nick Esquivel Nicholas Wyman Stephen Hamilton Robert Lerman New America Urban Institute The James Irvine Foundation Jobs for the Future (JFF) Kelly Cure Raya Zion Bill Fennessy Rebecca Bettencourt Dave Rechs John Ladd Anthony Cordova Gary Adams OpenClassrooms IWSI America