Thanks to the efforts of Department of Labor partners all across the country, Youth Apprenticeship Week (YAW) was a huge success! Employers, apprentices, apprenticeship graduates, education providers, labor organizations, community-based organizations, government officials, industry associations and workforce leaders together held over 420 events. All 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico hosted over 682,600 attendees. States, counties, municipalities, apprenticeship system partners and program sponsors also issued over 120 proclamations across a variety of states, counties, municipalities, apprenticeship system partners and program sponsors.
It was an exciting week full of celebrations and announcements like the Student Career Expo pictured above, where young people learned about vocational careers and apprenticeships in the Baltimore County, Maryland area. Below you will find more from some of the events that took place during the week.
Youth Apprenticeship Week National Kick-off Event
We held a kick-off event at our D.C. headquarters moderated by one of our Apprentice Trailblazers, and our very own Randy Copeland, who joined the department’s Office of Apprenticeship as a college student 14 years ago through the Pathways program. Randy now leads the office’s youth portfolio and the nation’s first Youth Apprenticeship Week to support our work creating pathways for thousands of young people across the country.
Kyle deCant, director of labor policy for the White House National Economic Council, and Veronica Hinton, the associate director of workforce policy and innovation at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management joined me in providing opening remarks to celebrate and kick-off this historic and exciting week. deCant began by noting that the Biden-Harris administration has focused on developing the next generation of workers that have access to high-quality apprenticeship programs since day one. Hinton shared how the recently announced Federal Youth Apprentice Pathways Final Rule will increase access and opportunities for youth and young adults, especially Registered Apprenticeship graduates, into federal government jobs.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Manny Lamarre facilitated a panel with youth apprentices which allowed the audience to hear from young apprentices about how they are earning and learning in high-growth, high demand industries. To close out the day, Amy Loyd, assistant secretary for the Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, provided inspiring closing remarks.
Youth Apprentice Roundtable with Acting Secretary Julie Su
Acting Secretary Julie Su and I had the chance to hear directly from more than 20 young apprentices, pre-apprentices and apprentice graduates during Youth Apprenticeship Week.
The stories that these young people shared with us about their experiences and how they heard about apprenticeships were extremely powerful and speak to the impact that Registered Apprenticeship has on the lives of so many individuals.
First National Apprenticeship Signing Day
On May 9, the department joined the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services to host a large-scale signing day event. Signatories included members of the nation’s first HBCU public service apprenticeship program, Howard University, DC Water, Howard University Hospital, University of the District of Columbia and 45 high school and college students.
Youth Apprenticeship Week Industry and Community Engagement
Across the country, industry leaders, employers, labor unions, students and community members learned more about the value and benefits of youth apprenticeship. I appreciated my visit to AAR Corp.’s facility in my hometown of Miami, hosted by Career Source Florida, where I learned about their apprenticeship program, about what it means for recruitment and retention and about high-demand careers in the aviation industry.
What makes AAR’s program a success is the partnerships they have with their local workforce board and public educational institutions, among others, to create pathways into their Registered Apprenticeships and ensure their apprentices earn credentials along the way.
If you hosted an event, make sure we know about it! Click here to share your Youth Apprenticeship Week event highlights with us so they can be featured in our summary report.
José Javier Rodríguez is the assistant secretary for employment and training in the U.S. Department of Labor.
