About Us
Massachusetts Girls in Trades was launched in 2015 by a partnership of educational, governmental, and union organizations with a shared goal of supporting and encouraging female career and technical education students and alumnae to pursue careers in the building trades.
The group’s mission is to help female students in middle school and high school — as well as recent high school graduates — to learn about and start careers in high-paying, high-skilled careers in union construction trades. These are careers that they might not ordinarily consider, either because they simply don’t know about these opportunities or because they have been led in another direction due to societal pressure or stigma. By promoting these options and truly opening up these careers for women, Massachusetts Girls in Trades will play a role in providing female students with equal opportunity. This will allow them to take advantage of the uptick in Massachusetts construction activity which is now seen throughout the Commonwealth.
The work of MA GIT is driven by three (3) essential questions.
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How can we promote and support young women currently enrolled in career and technical education to enter the union construction trades?
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How can we develop a pipeline into the construction trades for middle school girls who are enrolling in career and technical high schools?
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How can we reach graduates of career and technical high schools who may be looking for better opportunities and interested in careers in the union construction trades?
We have a shared goal of supporting and encouraging female students and alumnae to pursue careers in the building trades. Women's Bureau, US DOL Blackstone Valley RVTHS Building Trades Training Directors Association Boston Building Trades Unions IBEW Local 103 Franklin County Technical School Formerly DESE Massachusetts Girls in Trades & Policy Group on Tradeswomen’s Issues In Order Business
Our Steering Committee
Jill Ashton
Member / Northeast Regional Administrator
Kerri Baltramaitis
Member / Vocational Director
Rick Carter
Member / President
Brian Doherty
Member / General Agent, Treasurer
Renee Dozier
Member / Business Agent
Margaret Nugent
Member / Career and Technical Ed Director
Maura Russell
Member
Liz Skidmore
member / co-founder
Shelley Webster
Founding Member / President & CEO
Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy Massachusetts Building Trades Council, AFL-CIO IUPATDC 35 MassHire North Central Workforce Board North Atlantic Carpenter’s Training Fund Massachusetts Building Trades Unions Formerly MassDOT Office of Diversity and Civil Rights Department of Career Vocational and Technical Education Vista Celestial Rancho Pacifico Hotels, Costa Rica Massachusetts School Building Authority Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters
Our Advisory Group
Joao Alves
Vocational Administrator
Frank Callahan
President
Alex Colonna
Kelley French
Deputy Director
Eric Martinez
Recruiting & Retention
Dan McNulty
Staff
Ann M. O'Neil
Manager, External Civil Rights Programs
Jeff Perrotti
Consultant, MA DESE
Jennie Peterson
Honorary Co-Founder
Mary Pichetti
Director of Capital Planning
Shaitia Spruell
Executive Director
Leslie Weckesser
Principal
Michelle Wright
Business Agent
