Berkeley program looks to chip away at gender disparity in construction
Ten million Americans work in the construction and trades industry in the United States, but according to the U.S. Commerce Department, women only make up 11% of the industry, with less than five percent in skilled trades jobs.
However, a tiny garage in the city of Berkeley is hoping to change that gender disparity, by giving power to young girls through the use and skill of power tools.
"I started Girls Garage in 2013," said Emily Pilloton-Lam, who founded the nonprofit. "I wanted to create a space where girls felt fully embodied to build all the amazing ideas that they had."
Pilloton-Lam is an architectural designer and builder who holds a BA in Architecture from UC Berkeley and a Master of Fine Arts from the Art Institute of Chicago. It was while growing up in Chicago that she first took an interest in construction as a young girl.
"I've been building things since I was a kid," said Pilloton-Lam.
At Girls Garage, everyday after school, she gives young girls from ages 9 to 18 the opportunity to learn about working with tools and their hands. The students have built everything from an outdoor sauna to a chicken coop to a bus stop, even doing home-renovation work for free.
"So, all our high school students are working on community design, building projects for other nonprofit clients, and we're doing that work pro-bono, "said Pilloton-Lam. "I think it's so important for students not only to see their own skills, but to see how those skills can impact their immediate communities and other people in their community. That what they're building can improve someone else's life."
During the past 12 years, Girls Garage has taught more than a thousand students, with 250 to 350 a year making their way through the program.
Talia Rosen began attending class when she was only 9-years old. Today as a high school senior, she is comfortable around a drill, miter saw, or any type of power tool you can throw her way.
She says learning how to build while surrounded by other girls and female mentors has built-up her own confidence.
"We're all just such an amazing community and can bond together by being strong and by working together to create something collectively," said Rosen.
"Our staff is all female, non-binary," added Pilloton-Lam. "We have an average of ten years of experience. Collectively, we have like over 100 years of experience."
She says that type of experience is more just empowering for her young students.
"I don't love the word empowerment, because I feel like it implies we're giving power to people that didn't already have it," she said. "And the students that come here are already quite powerful. All we're doing is sort of removing the boundaries for them to exercise their power to the nth degree. "
Girls Garage is free to the community. Pilloton-Lam says of the more than one thousand girls have come through the program, more than 50% have gone onto careers in engineering, architecture, and the trades industry.
