Marina Zhavoronkova, executive director of TradesFutures, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast for the Labor Day episode to discuss the impact TradesFutures is having across all union building trades.
TradesFutures is now the official host of Tradeswomen Build Nations in continued partnership with NABTU and operates a network of more than 200 apprenticeship readiness programs across 32 states. Zhavoronkova discussed the organization's model, which requires programs to use the union-developed Multicraft Core Curriculum (MC3), maintain a formal partnership with their regional Building Trades Council and report placement data and the program's reach. Last year, 7,700 participants were served, a threefold increase over the prior five years, with 17 new programs launched entirely in response to inbound requests from councils and community organizations.
Zhavoronkova also addressed women in construction; the CHIPS program office's effort to commit federally funded project owners to workforce diversity goals; the fastest-growing program segments, including high schools and community colleges; correctional system programs operating in every California facility; and the connection between data center construction and apprenticeship readiness demand.
Zhavoronkova also discussed the Bureau of Labor Statistics' AI exposure categories, which rank building trades occupations among the lowest in relative AI exposure of all currently classified occupations.
- TradesFutures operates a network of more than 200 apprenticeship readiness programs (APRs) across 32 states, all using the union-developed Multicraft Core Curriculum and all required to maintain a formal partnership with their regional Building Trades Council. The organization served 7,700 participants last year, a threefold increase over the prior five years, and launched 17 new programs driven entirely by inbound requests from councils and community organizations rather than outward recruitment. All TradesFutures programs are free of charge to participants.
- Program types include adult-serving programs of three to 12 weeks for workers transitioning from low-wage employment or unemployment, correctional system programs operating in every California facility and through post-release partnerships including with the Center for Employment Opportunities, high school programs and community college programs; a recent statewide partnership with the Pennsylvania Association for Community Colleges is launching the Multicraft Core Curriculum across all 15 community colleges in the state, and the organization's first statewide community college partnership.
- Data center construction is driving significant demand for TradesFutures program graduates. A recent AGC analysis found that at least a third of data center construction is union, approximately triple the national average for other construction projects. The BLS AI exposure categories, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as a supplement to the 2025-35 employment projections, rank building trades occupations among the lowest in relative AI exposure of all classified occupations based on current AI capabilities. However, the BLS notes that low exposure does not mean an occupation will be entirely unaffected by future technological change.
A Math Problem and a Wider Doorway
Marina Zhavoronkova came to TradesFutures through a career that included senior fellowship work at the Center for American Progress and a role at the CHIPS program office at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where part of her work focused on ensuring that federally funded semiconductor construction created strong union opportunities for working-class Americans and specifically widened access for women. The CHIPS effort was built on the principle that project owners hold the purse strings, and when they commit to workforce diversity goals on federally supported construction, that commitment carries real weight, she said. it is a math problem. The country needs more workers to build the infrastructure it depends on. The solution is expanding who has access to those jobs, she said.
NABTU has been a consistent champion of women in the trades, and TradesFutures is now the official host of Tradeswomen Build Nations in continued partnership with NABTU. Zhavoronkova said hearing NABTU President Sean McGarvey speak about the importance of women in construction is one of the most effective tools available for making it happen at both the national and local levels. Leadership from the top changes what is possible on the ground.
What TradesFutures Is and How It Works
TradesFutures operates a network of more than 200 apprenticeship readiness programs (APRs) across 32 states. These are pre-apprenticeship programs that prepare people from communities across the country to enter and succeed in union construction apprenticeship programs. The concept of community-based pre-apprenticeship has existed for a long time. TradesFutures came into the picture to hold programs to quality standards, ensure participants actually gain access to union construction apprenticeships, provide resources to the network and create consistency across programs.
Three requirements set TradesFutures programs apart from general workforce training. Every program must use the union-developed Multicraft Core Curriculum, known as the MC3. Every program must have a formal partnership with the Building Trades Council in its region, ensuring the council knows the program is operating and actively supports graduates entering union construction careers. And every program must report placement data to TradesFutures, which allows the organization to identify what is working, direct resources where they are needed and hold programs accountable for actually placing participants.
Last year, TradesFutures served 7,700 participants, a threefold increase over the prior five years. The organization launched 17 new programs, and Zhavoronkova stressed that in each case, trades councils or community organizations approached TradesFutures and said they needed them. The organization does not go out and push programs onto communities. The demand is coming to them.
Program Types: From High Schools to Correctional Facilities
TradesFutures programs serve participants across a range of entry points. The core adult-serving programs run three to 12 weeks and are designed for workers leaving low-wage jobs or unemployment who want to transition directly into a union construction career. For those participants, time is real money, and the programs are designed to deliver results quickly.
A significant and growing segment operates inside the correctional system. TradesFutures programs operate in every correctional facility in California, and the organization runs post-release programs in partnership with organizations including the Center for Employment Opportunities. Workers who were recently incarcerated and are seeking a pathway into a union construction apprenticeship can access it through these programs.
The fastest-growing segments are school-based. High school programs have seen the strongest growth over the past several years. Community college programs are also expanding rapidly. A new statewide partnership with the Pennsylvania Association for Community Colleges is launching the MC3 curriculum across all 15 community colleges in Pennsylvania, the first statewide community college group to partner with TradesFutures.
All programs are free of charge to participants.
The Austin Graduation and What Success Looks Like
Zhavoronkova described the first graduation she attended in her role as executive director, alongside NABTU President Sean McGarvey, who chairs the TradesFutures board. The program was run by UA Local 286 in Austin, Texas. All 23 participants, recent high school graduates from communities historically underrepresented in the trades and many of them recent immigrants, had been accepted into registered apprenticeships and were starting on the job the following Monday. One participant had learned about the program from his brother, who was a second-year IBEW apprentice.
That detail, Zhavoronkova said, is what the model is designed to produce: not individual points of success but entire communities that now have a pathway into the trades, where word of mouth recruits the next participant because someone they know already made it work.
Data Centers, AI Anxiety and Where Building Trades Rank
Data center construction is driving real demand for TradesFutures program graduates. A recent analysis from the Associated General Contractors found that at least a third of data center construction is unionized, approximately triple the national average for other construction projects. Zhavoronkova said her program graduates are frequently employed on data center projects, and that demand-side growth directly supports the programs. TradesFutures only trains people when there are actual apprenticeship and employment opportunities waiting on the other side. Programs are required to coordinate with their building trades councils and unions, and should operate only if union jobs are available to their graduates.
The other side of the AI conversation is the anxiety that comes with it. Many workers and people considering career changes are worried about what artificial intelligence will do to employment nationwide. On that question, Zhavoronkova pointed to the BLS AI exposure categories, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as a supplement to the 2025-35 employment projections. The BLS measure classifies occupations into four relative AI exposure categories — Low, Moderate, High and Very High — based on how well current AI capabilities match the tasks and work activities of each occupation, drawing on five external data sources combining theoretical and observed AI usage measures.
Building trades occupations rank among the lowest in relative AI exposure of all currently classified occupations. Jobs that require physical skills, spatial judgment and hands-on work under variable conditions are a poor match for what current AI technology can replicate. The BLS is careful to note that low relative exposure does not mean an occupation will be entirely unaffected by future technological change, and that the categories reflect current AI capabilities rather than a forecast of future impacts. But within the landscape of occupations available to workers today, building trades careers sit at the durable end of the spectrum.
Zhavoronkova said people who are coming to apprenticeship readiness programs because they have identified building trades as a stable career pathway in the age of AI are reading the situation correctly. TradesFutures’ goal is to capture those people, prepare them well and place them into union construction careers opening across the country.
How to Find a Program and How to Support One
For anyone interested in a career in the building trades, tradesfutures.org has an interactive map showing apprenticeship readiness programs across the country. All programs are free. If a worker already knows which trade they want to pursue, Zhavoronkova recommended going directly to the local Joint Apprenticeship Training Center to ask when they are taking applicants. TradesFutures programs are designed for workers who are still deciding, who want to understand what is out there, and who want to find the right fit before committing to a specific trade.
For union members already working in the trades, Zhavoronkova had a specific ask: find out if there is an apprenticeship readiness program in your region and get involved. Programs welcome guest speakers from local unions, arrange visits to training centers and rely on union partnerships to place their graduates. If no program exists in the area and the Local or council is looking for a new recruitment strategy, she encouraged reaching out directly. TradesFutures can help build one.
More information is available at tradesfutures.org.
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