We are happy to announce that Roots of Success has been awarded two California Apprenticeship Initiative (CAI) New and Innovative grants! CAI is a grant opportunity offered by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to support the creation of new apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeship training programs, to increase student and employer engagement and foster a shared community of practice for college supervisors of apprenticeship programs.
The grant is part of the California Community Colleges ongoing efforts to meet the state’s need for an educated and skilled workforce, especially through engaging underserved populations, and the Governor’s goal of serving 500,000 earn-and-learn apprenticeships by 2029. Apprenticeship is the model of the future as a mechanism to eliminate the barrier between education, training, and employment to create a seamless pathway. While the goal is to serve 500,000 apprentices, California has currently served roughly 100,000, and the state has a need to create innovative ways to scale the growth of registered apprenticeships. The CAI N&I seeks to create new and innovative apprenticeship opportunities in priority and emerging industry sectors or areas in which apprenticeship training is not fully established or does not exist.
The two grants, totaling $1 million over a three year period, were awarded to Roots of Success to launch the Apprenticeship and Pre-Apprenticeship programs, respectively. The support will enable Roots of Success to roll out the CTE Environmental Literacy Instructor Apprenticeship and Environmental Specialist Pre-Apprenticeship programs with partners throughout California. To learn more about these programs, visit rootsofsuccess.org/apprenticeship.