NEW CHOICES | WANTO | OTHER PROGRAMS

Women in Apprenticeships and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO)

PAWW’s WANTO Works program encourages the employment of women in nontraditional and apprenticeship occupations. By partnering with registered apprenticeship programs (RAPs) across the state and in three specific New Choices programs, PAWW improves outreach, recruitment, hiring, training, employment, and retention of women in apprenticeships in nontraditional occupations.

The three New Choices programs include Western Pennsylvania, the Erie County Technical Center, and the York County Career and Technical Center, all of which have successfully placed women in apprenticeships and nontraditional career paths in the past.

The goals of the WANTO Works program are two-fold. Firstly, this partnership recruits, places, retains and trains 50 women annually into registered apprenticeship programs. WANTO Works breaks down long-established barriers to skilled trade careers, both for women currently in the workforce as well as younger girls in middle school and high school. Through Pennsylvania Women Work, program participants not only receive pre-apprenticeship training, but also clothing and transportation assistance, as well as career counseling.

Secondly, the program serves to enlighten employers and other interested parties to the benefits of having women in various non-traditional occupations and the methods of supporting the retention of these women.

WANTO Works is made possible through a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. To learn more about WANTO Works, contact:

Lynda Broze
412-391-5101

LBroze@pawomenwork.org