Why a Partnering Institute?

NEWIT and FHWA have learned that while they know that ISTEA is important to tradeswomen and trades training programs, far too few tradeswomen and trades training programs know of ISTEA and its significance to their work. In addition, many state Departments of Transportation (DOT'S) give little or no thought to spending their one half of one percent monies on creating opportunity for women and minorities. Thus, it was decided to hold three regional Partnering Institutes to start to change the status quo. Partnering is a process that is used by Departments of Transportation across the country. Partnering in this context involves bringing together all of the key players on a construction projectthe contractor, the subcontractors, union and labor representatives, compliance officials, and DOT, for exampleto determine what their shared mission or goal is for the project and to agree on an action plan to meet their goals. It is a model that works well, fostering buyin by all and helping ensure a high quality, safe, and ontime finished project. Several NEWIT members were familiar with the partnering process and believed it would work well for our Institutes as well. Indeed, it has been through partnering with others in our own states and our own region that our efforts to draw down the ISTEA money and create quality programs have been successful. The time had come to share the partnering model that has worked for us with others.

The Kansas City Institute

In the first few hours of the Kansas City Institute we knew we were on the right track. In summing up what she had learned in the first session of the Institute, one women's advocate said, "This morning we learned about ISTEAit's about economic equity, creating a new culture by building valuable new partnerships to impact on a community. It's about putting people to work and providing contractors with trained, skilled employees so that their businesses and industries can be productive.... We increased our understanding of legislation, regulations, and the DOT structure. Representatives from states who have accessed the ISTEA monies shared their stories, as did people who have worked long and hard to access the money but who are still struggling to make that a reality.... I personally feel a sense of encouragement because we can develop a strong statewide team that collaborates, communicates, and works together to build an ISTEA program in our community." While tradeswomen and advocates were learning about ISTEA, state DOT and Federal Highway Admin- istration representatives were learning about innovative ISTEA supportive service programs. Perhaps even more importantly, they were learning that few of them knew or dealt with community based organizations in their states, that even fewer of them were using their ISTEA supportive service monies, and that the time had come to change those realities. Once we had raised the consciousness of those in attendance, the next step was to put them to work creating change. Participants were seated at tables by state. Each state table had a diverse makeup: a state DOT representative, a training program coordinator, a tradeswoman, a women's advocate, a contractor or labor representative, other state agency representatives, and perhaps a federal representative as well. Over the next two and a half days, each state worked to develop a mission statement and a partnering charter and then to develop an action plan to meet their goals. An Action Plan One state, for example, agreed to "engage in a concerted and continuous effort to access ISTEA dollars and develop a collaborative program to recruit, train, and retain women and minorities in the transportation construction industry." They then determined what they needed to do to accomplish that end, planned their activities for the next several months and determined where they wanted to be in one year. Those attending the Institute found that having two and a half days to focus solely on non-traditional employment for women was very effective. Forming a state team, getting to know new kinds of people, and developing a plan as a team were also helpful. Best of all, the Institute was good for tradeswomen. As one tradeswomen's advocate stated at the end of the conference, "This conference gave a real focus to talking about tradeswomen's issues. States that didn't have a previous relationship with tradeswomen now do. This Institute expanded the tradeswomen's movement three-fold."

Ruth Durkee is a member of Northeast Women in Transportation and Executive Director of Northern New England Tradeswomen.

Tradeswomen Fall 1996