We had an incredible time at Metro Los Angeles' DEOD-PLA Women In Construction Career Day at the Metro Talent Hub on Thursday, March 12th. We had around 55 young women and 15 staff members attend the event, who came from our sites in Azusa/Pomona, Canoga Park, Compton, East LA, Hollywood, Lennox, Mid-City, San Bernardino, and South LA. We were joined by students from the California Conservation Corps. At the event, students had a chance to hear from amazing guest speakers about apprenticeship readiness training and applying and preparing for construction careers.
One of the guest speakers was YouthBuild Charter School of California graduate Irvin Barragan (Class of 2010), who now serves as Outreach Coordinator for the Apprenticeship Readiness Fund at LA/OC Building Trades. His story of transformation and growth inspired many of the young ladies yesterday. Our students also loved hearing from Veronica Manzo, Sr. Community Programs Manager at Modern Times, and the fantastic keynote speaker Kat Cruz, PLA Coordinator/ Union Liaison at Skanska USA. It’s so important for outgoing women to see and hear from people like Kat and Veronica, two phenomenal women who worked their way up in the construction industry, so that they can see themselves working in construction after graduation.
Our young women left the event engaged and inspired. We are so grateful for this collaboration with Metro to expose our students to construction careers and other careers at Metro that they can apply for after graduation. Our next event with Metro will be a Hiring Fair in May. We can’t wait! Huge appreciation to Angie Scott, Principal PLA Administrator at Metro, for putting this amazing event together and for her ongoing collaboration with YCSC.
