One on One: Lowe’s Janice Dupré
[Above: Janice Dupré, chair of the Lowe’s Foundation and executive vice president of human resources for Lowe’s, shares details and insights about the retailer's Gable Grants to support the skilled trades.]
As part of its five-year, $50 million commitment to support the training of 50,000 people for skilled trades careers, the Lowe's Foundation announced its latest round of support.
Lowe’s Foundation pointed to stats showing that 88 percent of contractors have trouble finding skilled workers, and an estimated 501,000 new skilled tradespeople are needed on top of the normal pace of hiring to meet demand this year alone.
Against that backdrop, the Lowe’s Foundation selected 10 community-based nonprofits as Gable Grants recipients to enhance their innovative skilled trades training programs. These nonprofits expand the foundation’s roster of grant recipients to 24 organizations offering inclusive and scalable training programs in 25 states nationwide.
The Lowe’s Foundation Gable Grants for community-based nonprofits range from $260,000 to $1 million and include:
- She Built This City (Charlotte)
- Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont (Charlotte)
- Alliance for Multicultural Community Services (Houston)
- Centro Hispano (Provo, Utah)
- Chicago Women in Trades (Chicago)
- Florida Trade Academy (Tampa)
- The Master’s Apprentice (Denver)
- Accelerate Montana (Missoula)
- Positive Workforce (New York City)
- West Virginia Women Work (Charleston)
The latest round of grants represents an investment of $6 million, and brings to $17 million the total for contributions during the first year of the five-year program.
