Kate Stephenson
Username
Kate Stephenson
Proposer First Name
Kate
Proposer Email
kate@buildhelm.com
Proposer Last Name
Stephenson
Proposer Company/Organization
HELM Construction Solutions
Proposer Phone
(802) 225-8933

Boston 2022 Areas of Focus

Proposer Job Title
Partner
Proposer Additional Info
BEBL Facilitator, convener of Anti Racist Action Group
Proposed Session Description
We will invite graduates of regional workforce training programs to talk about what they learned in their program, and how they’ve been able to translate that to the jobsite. The goal of the session is to build bridges between NESEA member businesses and workforce training programs and develop mutually beneficial relationships that support job placement and hiring. Questions we want to explore: What are mistakes that employers make? What assumptions might I have that are wrong? What do you struggle with moving from the training program to employment? What surprised you when you moved into the workforce? How do bosses not screw up? What are your expectations/dreams for your career/this field? Potential participants: (again these are not the presenters but the folks we would contact to get names of program graduates who we would invite to the panel) Green Jobs Academy (contact: Jason Taylor) Roxbury Community College (contact: Greg King, Frank Mruk) Vermont Works for Women (contact: Missy Mackin) The Compliance Mentor Group (high-school level mentorship and career discovery program) (contact: Nicole Richer) YouthBuild Boston (contact: Mike Chavez) North Bennett Street School (Cecilia @Byggmeister)
Diversity and Inclusiveness
This session was developed by the Anti Racist Action Group. We anticipate the majority of the panelists would be BIPOC, women, or LGBTQIA+ and would qualify as emerging professionals.
Learning Objectives
Identify three workforce training programs to potentially recruit workers from
Understand what skills are taught in each program and what can be expected from graduates
Identify potential barriers to hiring program graduates
Hear from graduates what they need to successfully enter the design/construction workforce
Has this session been presented before?
No
Additional Comments
We are hoping this session can build on the workshop Paul Eldrenkamp organized last year.
Session Format
Interview or structured conversation among panelists
Session Format Details
Interviews moderated by Kate Stephenson, with 3-4 panelists
Recommended Length
60-minute session
90-minute session

Strongest Content Connection - Boston 2022

Comments about your speaker roster
We are open to the idea of another moderator, but would want to try to make sure it is not another cis white male. This proposal was developed by Kate Stephenson, Marc Rosenbaum and Paul Eldrenkamp.
Anything else you'd like to tell us about your session proposal?
If this session is accepted we would work with the organizations listed in the description to identify graduates from their programs who would be panelists. Kate would connect with them beforehand, and ARAG would work to help the panelists get scholarships to attend the conference, set up with mentors via BE The Future, and potentially find funding to give them a stipend to attend and/or cover travel costs (possibly Pat Cooke Foundation?). Our biggest concern is how do we make it worth their while to take a day off work to attend. Also potentially getting their employers on board to allow them to attend.
Reviewer 1
Stuart, Stephen
Reviewer 2
Washington, Maria
Curator
Washington, Maria
Proposal #
117
Session #
317
Committee Decision
Accepted

Presenters

Full Description
Many NESEA member businesses in the trades are struggling to find, hire, and retain the next generation of workers. They are looking to connect to programs that are doing this kind of training, to increase the diversity of their workforce, and to understand potential barriers. Instead of hearing from program administrators we want to hear directly from participants.