In honor of this year’s 75th anniversary of the passage of the National Apprenticeship Act, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), in partnership with the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship, is launching a search to identify the trailblazers and innovators of 21st Century Registered Apprenticeship.
Registered Apprenticeship programs are being asked to nominate programs, practices, strategies, or partnerships that demonstrate an innovation or trailblazing effort that has had significant impact on the history of Registered Apprenticeship and/or has implications for Registered Apprenticeship in the 21st Century. Selected programs, practices, strategies or partnerships may be showcased in a major report to the Secretary of Labor or during a National Action Summit on Registered Apprenticeship tentatively scheduled to be held Aug. 16, 2012, in Washington, D.C.
Programs that can answer yes to one or more of the following questions should strongly consider submitting for the challenge:
- Is your Registered Apprenticeship program one that is helping define 21st Century Apprenticeship?
- Are you helping to expand Registered Apprenticeship into new and existing industries?
- Are you a trailblazer, forming new partnerships involving Registered Apprenticeship programs or sponsors with workforce, educational, or community-based organizations?
- Do you engage in an innovative Registered Apprenticeship practice that helps provide solutions to current workforce challenges?
- Are you helping to increase Registered Apprenticeship opportunities for under-represented populations, including women, minorities, youth, veterans, and people with disabilities?
- Have you crafted innovative policies that create economic development benefits or improve our economic competitiveness using Registered Apprenticeship?