Are you concerned about workers’ justice and women’s issues? Are you interested in trying out a job in the workers’ rights movement, but not sure where to start? Apply to be a 2020 WILL Empower Apprentice! Our Apprenticeship Program is a paid opportunity for recent college graduates and rank-and-file activists to explore what it’s like to work for the labor and workers’ justice movement, and to gain the skills and knowledge you need to begin making a difference.

Consider applying to be a 2020 WILL Empower apprentice. Applications are now open, and are due April 15, 2020. Apprentices will begin work in September, 2020. Find out more here.

WILL Empower apprentices work for 3-12 months with unions and worker organizations across the nation. The WILL Empower apprentices may work in a variety of capacities, including organizing, research, communications, politics, mobilization, and policy. Pay starts at $15 an hour. 

The 2019 apprenticeship class included ten apprentices. They worked for: Jobs to Move America in Birmingham, AL; the NC State AFL-CIO in Raleigh, NC; the Memphis Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO in Memphis TN; the United Campus Workers / CWA in Nashville, TN; UNITE HERE Local 25 in Washington, DC; Bargaining for the Common Good Network in Washington, DC; the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Washington, DC; the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance in Washington, DC; and the Street Vendor Project in New York, NY.

Each WILL Empower apprentice has two female mentors, one inside the host organization and one who is external to the organization. WILL Empower apprentices participate in an orientation and training in early September at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, before beginning their placements. 

“I left the gathering with a renewed commitment to fighting for economic, racial, and gender justice in my life/career and in what I hope and believe will be lifelong, supportive relationships with women who have already helped me become a better version of myself,” wrote Lorelei Christie in a blog post about her experience as a 2018 WILL Empower apprentice. 

If your organization is interested in serving as a WILL Empower apprenticeship host site, please find out more information here on hosting an apprentice, and fill out the host site application form by March 31, 2020

WILL Empower (Women Innovating Labor Leadership) is a multi-pronged initiative designed to identify, nurture, and train a new generation of women. It is a joint project of Georgetown University’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor and Rutgers University SMLR’s Center for Innovation in Worker Organization.