GIRLS. POWER. TOOLS. Girls 8-14 get fired up for the building trades long before anyone has time to talk them out of it.
© Can Stock Photo / mike301
IN
the early spring of 2016, an independent young woman named Katie Hughes stepped up to make a difference in the lives of young girls in Portland, Oregon, when she founded the non-profit organization Girls Build. As a carpenter having taught at ACE Academy and Oregon Tradeswomen Inc. (OTI), Hughes realized opportunities for girls to get involved in the trades are very limited, reflected in the fact that despite a debilitating worker shortage in the construction industry, only about two percent of on-site workers are women.
By / Deb Draper Photos courtesy of Katie Hughes
The mission of Girls Build is to inspire curiosity and confidence in young girls by introducing them to the construction trades, while also instilling an awareness of the possibilities and satisfaction of creating something strong and useful with their own hands. At one-week summer camps, girls 8 to 14 put on their hard hats and tool belts and jump right into the exciting world of making and building. They use all the regular equipment, from hammers to chop saws, to make several small, individual projects and one big project together over the course of seven days. “We have 20 workshops each week,” says Hughes. “This year was our third summer camp, and we had seven one-week sessions: two in Portland, two in Seattle, two in Southern Oregon, and one on the Oregon coast.” Hughes explains that the camps sell out almost immediately once they’re announced. Three hundred girls attended in 2018, and with another location added in 2019, she anticipates 500 eager-to-learn young construction workers this coming year. The last two years, Hughes has included projects within the sheet metal trade, recognizing that it may not be as well-known as other trades, yet can be very rewarding. “I got in touch with
