Women in the Trades

Meets: Second and fourth Tuesday, 12:00 p.m., posted in DroverNet · Adviser: Lucia Barrenechea, Employer Relations Specialist · Organized 2012

Women in the Trades supports women enrolled in the College’s trade and technical programs through peer mentoring, employer connections, and tool scholarship coordination with the Foundation.

History

• Organized in 2012. The mentoring program pairs first-year students with second-year students in the same or an adjacent program; 31 pairs were active in 2025–26.
• The organization’s tool scholarship, administered with the Foundation, covers required tool kits for members with demonstrated need. Recipients are not announced.
• The October employer breakfast is held in the Shop Building, with attendees served at the workbenches, which are cleared and papered for the morning. The arrangement began as a scheduling necessity in 2014 and is now specified in the invitation.

Officers, 2026–27

Officer lists are filed with the September recognition renewal; the roster below is as filed with the Office of the Dean of Students.

Billie Streb — President

Second-year student, Welding and Fabrication. Pairs mentors each September. Pairings hold for the year; changes require the consent of both members.

Ondrea Palmer — Vice President

Accessory Structure Consultation. Coordinates the employer breakfast. She orders the workbench paper by the roll.

Ruth Anne Coblentz — Secretary

Jobsite Material Security. Administers tool scholarship intake. Applications are read without names, a procedure the organization adopted in 2019.

Events

• Employer breakfast — October, Shop Building.
• Tool scholarship application window — each term, dates posted in DroverNet.

Recognition of a student organization is granted under the terms stated at Student Organizations and does not constitute College endorsement of the organization’s views or activities. Current officer contacts are maintained in DroverNet.