Our Mission

  
To empower women to achieve economic independence by creating workplace diversity in trade and technical careers. 

We pursue our mission through the following goals:

  • Encourage and prepare women for nontraditional employment through outreach, education, training, support, and job placement assistance
  • Advocate for and implement systems which promote equity in recruitment, training and hiring
  • Work to eliminate harassment and discrimination against workers on the basis of gender, race, sexual orientation or age
  • Create equitable work environments for women and minorities through education, training and resources
  • Advocate for systemic change on issues which impact our region's economy on workforce development issues and economic access on local, state, and regional levels

Because the vast majority of women we assist are unemployed or low income women in "dead end" jobs, a major result of our work is to assist women and their families to escape the cycle of poverty.

Our youth education programs are designed to counteract the damage to emotional development and self-esteem that poverty can create, at a critical time in a girl’s development. Young girls are challenged to develop new areas of physical confidence, expand their math and science skills through concrete applications, and push past preconceived limitations. Girls develop a stronger sense of themselves and their capabilities, learn independence, and see new possibilities for their future.  This makes it possible for them to make different life choices.

In the course of carrying out our Mission, HHW assists employers who, due to a rapidly aging workforce and changing education/employment trends, need to widen the pool of qualified, skilled, technical workers. In expanding that pool of workers, HHW also helps to ensure the viability of the greater Cleveland and Ohio economies, particularly in sectors which are poised to receive significant public investments through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), such as construction, environmental remediation, and green technology. HHW is particularly dedicated to make high wage jobs in the emerging green sector traditional for women. Through partnerships and innovation, we are working to make Ohio the first state in the nation to break the 25% barrier for women in green jobs. Click here to view a power-point presentation titled "The Road to Economic Security: Ohio's Leadership Opportunity for Women in Green Jobs." 

Since 2007, HHW has been providing services throughout Ohio.  In 2009, HHW established its first extension office in Warren, Ohio in partnership with the YWCA and is in process of doing the same in Lorain County, towards its goal of formally becoming HHW Ohio.

Demographics:

In 2008, a majority of working women (50.7%) were clustered in less than 5% of occupational categories, or 25 out of 504, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Many of these occupations are low-wage, with limited benefits.  Such occupational segregation remains a significant factor in the high percentage of female-headed families who live in poverty.  In Ohio, a staggering 41.1% of single-female households with children are in poverty. For those families with children under the age of 5, an astonishing 56.1% of all female headed households, 61% of African-American and 68.3% of Hispanic female headed households are in poverty. 

Currently, as a nation and a state, we are investing heavily in emerging green sectors as a way to invigorate economic recovery.  A number of green career pathways have percentages of women well below 5%, such as construction laborers (3.1%), maintenance workers (0.7-7.5%), electricians (1%), plumbers/pipefitters (1.4%), ironworkers (0.9%), mechanics (2-8%), engineers (6.3-15%), and insulation workers (1.9%).

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