Apprenticeship for All Podcast

Training Apprentices with Disabilities in Digital Accessibility

Episode 21: David Fazio, Founder of Helix Opportunity, discusses employers’ growing need to hire digital accessibility experts. He shares how the Helix Opportunity Registered Apprenticeship Program is training apprentices with disabilities in digital accessibility to both address this need and create career pathways for people with disabilities in this in-demand field.

How to Customize Your Apprenticeship Recruitment & Training

Episode 20: Emma MacLean and Marie Trudelle of Apprenti, a Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP), share how the organization works directly with employers to help them develop their own inclusive RAP. In this episode, they discuss how Apprenti sources and trains apprentices for their employer partners and how to overcome barriers to creating accessible recruitment and training processes to support apprentices with disabilities.

Strengths-Based Practices to Support Neurodiversity at Work

Episode 19: In honor of Neurodiversity Celebration Week, March 13 – 19, Scott Michael Robertson, Ph.D., Senior Policy Adviser in the Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor, gives tips and advice for taking a strengths-based approach to supporting neurodiversity in the workplace. Robertson uses his personal experiences as an autistic man to illustrate his suggestions.

A Military Veteran Finds Her Career in Cybersecurity through Apprenticeship

Episode 18: November 17th is Women in Apprenticeship Day—a part of National Apprenticeship Week (NAW). In honor of NAW, military veteran, Kristin Strand, shares how her experience in the Apprenti Tech Apprenticeship program helped advance her career in cybersecurity.

Not Your Grandfather’s Apprenticeship: Apprenticeships in Nontraditional Sectors

Episode 17: Joshua Johnson, Director of Jobs for the Future’s National Innovation Hub for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility in Registered Apprenticeship, discusses the importance of promoting apprenticeship in nontraditional sectors, disability disclosure challenges, and his passion for National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM).

How Apprenticeships are Creating Career Opportunities for Veterans with Disabilities

Episode 16: Nicholas Morgan, President of Adaptive Construction Solutions and military veteran, discusses how he built one of the nation’s most recognized workforce development companies and provided opportunities to high-growth, high-demand jobs for veterans with disabilities through apprenticeship.

How an Inclusive Apprenticeship Led to Marketable Skills in IT: A neurodiverse Apprentice Shares His Success Story

Episode 15: Earl Dube, a graduate of the Bridge to Opportunity IT program who identifies as neurodivergent, shares his journey into an IT career through apprenticeship. He provides advice to other job candidates with disabilities, as well as to employers of neurodiverse apprentices about how they can create inclusive workplaces to broaden their access to a large talent pool of tech professionals.

Creating a Truly Inclusive Workplace: A Conversation Between Colleagues with Disabilities

Episode 14: Four colleagues at Wheelhouse Group (a Cadmus Company), who lead the PIA and PEAT initiatives as prime contractors, come together to discuss their personal experiences as employees with disabilities. Based on their lived experiences as individuals with mental health disabilities, visual impairment and substance use disorder, they offer their advice on what employers and fellow team members can do to create a truly inclusive and stigma free workplace.

How Inclusive Apprenticeship Programs and On-the-Job Training Can Address Talent Shortages in IT

Episode 13: Pat Romzek, retired IT Executive and CEO of Three Talents, LLC

Pat Romzek, retired IT Executive and CEO of Three Talents, LLC discusses the documented benefits of inclusive IT-focused apprenticeships and their success in developing a diverse, skilled workforce.

How Inclusive Apprenticeship Drives Performance

Episode 12: David Dame, Director of Accessibility at Microsoft

David Dame, Director of Accessibility at Microsoft, discusses the unique skill set and perspective that people with disabilities bring to the workplace and how inclusive apprenticeship provides an opportunity to build high performing teams that foster inclusion and diversity.

How Inclusive Apprenticeships Can Help Address the Clean Energy Sector’s Growing Talent Needs

Episode 11: Amanda Bybee, CEO of Amicus Solar Cooperative

Amanda Bybee, CEO of Amicus Cooperative and recognized leader in the clean energy sector, discusses career opportunities and access to high-growth, high-demand jobs in the solar energy sector and the industry’s commitment to creating a more diverse and inclusive pipeline of talent to fill their workforce needs.

The Inclusive Apprenticeship Experience: An Apprentice Discusses his Journey to a Career in Cybersecurity

Episode 10: Chad Chaffee, cybersecurity apprentice with Apprenti

Chad Chaffee, a cybersecurity apprentice with Apprenti, discusses the benefits of inclusive apprenticeship for people with disabilities. He dives into how the culture of inclusion at Apprenti encouraged him to self-disclose his ADHD and provided him access to a career in a high-growth, high demand sector in a supportive and inclusive workplace environment.

Disability Inclusion Training for Employers

Episode 9: Dr. James McNeil, vocational rehabilitation, disability management, and HR compliance expert

Dr. James McNeil, a recognized expert in vocational rehabilitation, disability management, and HR compliance discusses the positive effect of disability inclusion training for employers and how appropriate accommodations are allowing employers to grow a dedicated and skilled workforce while addressing intersectionality and its impact on their DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility) goals.

Building Workforce Talent for the Clean Energy Sector through Apprenticeship

Episode 8: Richard Lawrence and Megan Howes of IREC (the Interstate Renewable Energy Council)

Richard Lawrence and Megan Howes of IREC (the Interstate Renewable Energy Council) discuss how the development of inclusive apprenticeship programs will enable the rapidly growing clean energy sector to meet its demand for skilled talent.

Building a Diverse & Inclusive Workforce Through Apprenticeship

Episode 7: Mary Wright, Program Manager for SHRM Human Resources Registered Apprenticeship Program

Mary Wright, Program Manager for the newly launched SHRM Human Resources Registered Apprenticeship Program, discusses how “earn and learn” apprenticeships are helping to close the skills gap and enable employers to access new workforce talent.

The Future of Work: How the Tech Industry is Addressing the Skills Gap and Building a Diverse 21st Century Workforce

Episode 6: Jackie Black, Director of Membership for the Consumer Technology Association

Jackie Black, Director of Membership for the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), discusses the tech industry’s commitment to growing a diverse and inclusive 21st century workforce. She dives into how CTA’s dedicated Future of Work initiatives, including the Apprenticeship Coalition and the 21st Century Workforce Council, are getting people back to work and preparing the workforce for the jobs of the future.

The “Why” and “How” of Creating Inclusive Apprenticeships

Episode 5: Josh Christianson, Project Director at the Partnership on Inclusive Apprenticeship (PIA)

Josh discusses the benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce, how inclusive apprenticeship programs can support organizations’ diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts (DEIA), and what it means to approach employment practices through an intersectional lens.

Mental Health Disabilities and the Workplace

Episode 4: Devin Boyle, Director of Communications for PIA

Inclusive apprenticeship programs help employers build a diverse and inclusive workforce of trained professionals, including those with mental health disabilities. Devin Boyle, Director of Communications for PIA, dispels the myths and stigma around mental health, opens up about her own bipolar disorder and PTSD, and discusses the benefits of hiring apprentices and employees with mental health and other non-apparent disabilities.

How Apprenticeships Support Diversity & Inclusion in the Tech Workplace

Episode 3: Jennifer Carlson, Executive Director of WTIA Workforce Institute.

Inclusive apprenticeship programs can help employers train their future workforce. Jennifer said “We can’t create enough talent out of the traditional university ranks. We’re graduating approximately 75,000 people a year from computer science degrees, which is the first line of defense where companies go for talent. On average, there are 3 million jobs posted in tech every year. Investing in creating new talent is actually more effective and less costly, and it creates a more loyal workforce for companies that are making this investment.”

Creating a Diverse Workforce through Apprenticeship

Episode 2: Sassy Outwater-Wright, executive director of the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (MABVI)

More and more companies are discovering a proven strategy for building a highly-skilled workforce to grow and to thrive: apprenticeship programs. Combining classroom instruction with on-the-job training, apprenticeship programs can help your company bring new and more diverse talent into the workplace.

Why Hiring Apprentices with Disabilities Improves Companies’ Bottom Line

Episode 1: Vinz Koller, Senior Strategist for Capacity Building at Social Policy Research (SPR) Associates, discusses what employers and HR leaders should know about the benefits of investing in inclusive apprenticeship programs.