W O R K F O R C E S O L U T I O N S
For more than 20 years, Women Building Futures
(WBF) has been helping develop a strong workforce
in Alberta’s maintenance and construction-related
trades and the driving and operating industries. This non-profit
organization is dedicated to successfully empowering
women to become economically prosperous through
industry-recognized training, offering full support in
removing the barriers to success that many women face
every day.
Back in 1998, a small group of social workers saw how
difficult it was to place women in living wage jobs. Men
traditionally went into the higher paying trades, women
into retail or hospitality. They looked at the reasons why
and then created a non-profit organization dedicated to
overcoming those obstacles.
Judy Lynn Archer, WBF’s founding president, advocated
across the province to build a training centre in Edmonton
where women could learn about opportunities in trades-related
careers, how to reach out for those opportunities and
make a future for themselves and their families.
“Judy Lynn took the vision of those first dreamers
and turned it into action,” said Jess Thomson, director of
stakeholder relations for WBF. “She truly built WBF from
the ground up, and today more than 2,300 women have
graduated from our programs thanks to her vision and her
incredible grit and work ethic.”
This year, Archer received the Alberta Order of Excellence,
the highest honour the Province of Alberta can bestow on
a citizen in recognition of outstanding innovation and
commitment towards building a stronger future for Albertans
and all Canadians. Although she retired from her role at
WBF about four years ago, Archer remains actively engaged
as an advisor and started an endowment fund to continue
raising dollars and investments for the organization.
Primarily working with underemployed or unemployed
women, WBF strives to remove barriers to meaningful
employment, offering support such as funding for
living expenses, resources for affordable childcare and
affordable housing.
Thomson has been involved in WBF for 2.5 years,
coming from a non-profit background supporting women’s
economic and social security.
“At WBF, I’ve been learning more about trades-related
occupations, and that’s really changed my own views about
what opportunities are out there,” she said. “We work hard
to build awareness of the trades and driving occupations,
and then we try to identify opportunity fits for each woman
before entering a program. Applicants must complete a
career investigation report so they understand what a career
in trades will look like. After going through that process, they
know what they’re getting into, that they’re on a career path
that requires a great amount of commitment, and that after
completing the program, they’ll be ready for their career.”
WBF offers programs in Edmonton and Fort McMurray
and is currently expanding to Grande Prairie and Cold Lake.
Programs include: Journeywoman Start, Professional Class 1
Driving, Driver & Operator (Class 3) and Warehouse Express.
Thomson explains that awareness of opportunities within
a career and seeing a way forward are only the first of many
Photo courtesy of Women Building Futures
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