On November 15th and 16th, 2018, in recognition of the Department of Labor’s National Apprenticeship Week, the National Urban League (NUL) and the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) amplified the importance of registered apprenticeships for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) during the Carolinas Alliance for Success in Education (CASE) Broadband Summit, themed “HBCUs as Engines for Economic Growth: Smart HBCUs Disrupting the Digital Divide - Connecting Campuses to Communities through Broadband,” in Charlotte, North Carolina.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta announced the start of National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) on November 12th. In his remarks, Secretary Acosta said, “National Apprenticeship Week provides an opportunity to showcase how businesses, labor, educational institutions, trade and industry groups, and public officials across the nation are expanding apprenticeships to develop a skilled, dedicated workforce.” This year’s theme, “Apprenticeships: Creating Tomorrow,” celebrated the impact apprenticeship programs have in helping Americans learn skills for jobs in growing industries.
During the first event on November 15th, Ronald Marlow, NUL’s Vice President of Workforce Development, and Maurita Coley, MMTC’s President and CEO, participated in “The National Urban League’s Urban Apprenticeship Jobs Program (UAJP): A Community-Based Partnership to Advance Registered Apprenticeship,” a community forum moderated by Maureen Lewis of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
Marlow and Coley spoke on NUL’s Urban Apprenticeship Jobs Program (UAJP) efforts to advance registered apprenticeship, emphasizing the efforts and progress of UAJP’s HBCU Apprenticeship Consortium in partnership with the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), and addressing how CASE HBCUs can participate in the initiative. The forum speakers also included Hon. Mignon Clyburn, former FCC Commissioner, and Jessica Smith, Schools Partnership Specialist for Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools.
On the second day, ULCC President Teddy McDaniel joined MMTC President and CEO Maurita Coley and other discussants on a luncheon plenary panel, moderated by former FCC Commissioner Hon. Mignon L. Clyburn, that engaged HBCU administrators on apprenticeship training as a value-add to two- or four- year college education and a solution to the “skills gap.” McDaniel and Coley addressed ULCC’s successful broadband installation apprenticeship program in Charlotte, focusing on the recruitment of HBCU students and prospective employers for the program, as well as ways ULCC might work with the Carolinas’ HBCUs to advance the program. Additional panelists included Amy Huffman of the North Carolina Department of Information Technology, Tanaga Boozer of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and Melissa Jenkins of the U.S. Treasury.
During the remainder of the CASE Summit, speakers continued to highlight opportunities and successes for communities of color in tech-related fields, stressing the importance of apprenticeship programs for HBCUs and communities of color. Johnathan M. Holifield, Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, White House Domestic Policy Council, Executive Office of the President, echoed NUL’s and MMTC’s remarks on the importance of apprenticeship as a driver for workforce development and opportunity for communities of color and HBCUs and helped set the tone for the Summit: “Instead of just figuring out how to expand apprenticeships to HBCUs, which I totally agree with, we must ask ourselves: ‘What is the enduring goal of apprenticeships?’ The enduring goal of apprenticeships is really the broader goal of talent, investment, and productivity.”
NUL and MMTC are part of a partnership under a U.S. Department of Labor contract to promote and diversify Registered Apprenticeship (RA) programs and Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAP). The organizations have hosted numerous job fairs, community forums, panels, workshops, and webinars on apprenticeship, workforce development, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), and building a digital-ready workforce.
NUL and MMTC were proud to work closely with CASE participants and HBCU representatives to discuss opportunities for communities of color in workforce development, broadband, and beyond. Photo highlights from the Summit are available on MMTC’s Wakelet post.