Girls Garage is honored to be recognized as a DEWALT Grow the Trades Grant recipient for our efforts to invest in free trades programming for girls and gender-expansive youth.

With an estimated 500,000 open construction jobs unfilled, DEWALT’s Grow the Trades Grants aim to help close the skilled labor gap by supporting nonprofit organizations that are skilling, reskilling and upskilling tradespeople. Each year, the program awards funding and tool donations as part of a larger $30 million commitment over five years to close the skilled trades gap.

Girls Garage was selected as one of 166 organizations that are providing greater accessibility and resources for trades training.

“Support from the DEWALT Grow The Trades grant is a huge boon for our students and community, making it possible for us to offer free programming to teen girls and gender-expansive youth to learn building trades and build real projects in service of some incredible local nonprofits!” says Emily Pilloton-Lam, Founder and Executive Director of Girls Garage.

This generous grant will allow us to expand our no-cost teen programming and take on even more ambitious pro-bono community construction projects.

“DEWALT is immensely proud to support Girls Garage as they work to skill and reskill the tradespeople of tomorrow moving us closer to our shared goal of closing the trade skills gap,” said Frank Mannarino, President and General Manager of DEWALT. “Funding educational programs and non-profits like Girls Garage connects more people to training, resources and opportunities that will lead to successful careers in the trades.”

To learn more about the DEWALT Grow the Trades Grant, recipients and updates for the upcoming application period, please visit DEWALT Grow the Trades.