I am now at UBC in the graduate program.
You might be interested in checking out Kootenay WITT's web site:
http://www.imag.net/~wcn/koot-witt/
My background:
MARCIA BRAUNDY
Biographical notes
Marcia Braundy is a university-educated journey-level carpenter. She was the
second qualified female carpenter in British Columbia, and the first woman
in the construction sector of the B.C. Carpenter's Union, building
everything from Victorian renovations, hospitals, housing and shopping malls
to coal silos 278' tall, most recently working on the Bonnington Dam, 1995.
She started in construction in 1974, completed pre-apprenticeship in 1977
and her Inter-Provincial qualification in 1981.
Ms. Braundy developed/instructed Women In Trades and Women In Trades and
Technology exploratory courses at Selkirk College and The College of New
Caledonia in B.C.. She authored (1987) and revised (1997) Orientation To
Trades and Technology, A Curriculum Guide and Resource Guide With A Special
Emphasis On The Needs Of Women, for the B.C. Ministry of Education, Skills
and Training. The Canadian Vocational Association commissioned her 1992
paper "Out of the Stream and Into the River", highlighting Canadian issues
for these courses.
Braundy has delivered over 40 sessions of The Workplace In Transition:
Integrating Women Effectively, a seminar for vocational instructors, job
stewards, apprenticeship counsellors, foremen/supervisors, to assist them to
deal more successfully with women training and working in the
trades/technology workforce and produced the A/V "What Happens to Women In
Tradesland". She sits on the Equity Integration Committee of the $1.3
billion Island Highway project, and the Ad Hoc Women's Committee on the
Columbia Basin Trust, working to ensure a gender impact analysis and jobs
for women.
Braundy organized the 1988 "Surviving and Thriving - Women In Trades and
Technology and Employment Equity", and assisted with "Surviving & Thriving
II - The Sequel" in 1992, and "Building Bridges - Building Partnerships" in
1994, all national conferences with 60-80 workshops over 4 days. She was
managing editor and marketer of Surviving and Thriving - Women In Trades and
Technology and Employment Equity, Kootenay WITT 1989. Over 1000 Canadian
copies were sold. She was one of the writers of Winning With Women in
Trades, Technology, Science and Engineering, the Report of the National
Advisory Board on Science and Technology presented to the Prime Minister of
Canada in 1993.
Her small renovation and finish work company, Journeywomen Ventures Ltd.,
started in 1983, has trained and qualified two women apprentices to
journey-level. They are both currently employed as carpenters/contractors.
National Network, advocates for women in trades, technology, operations and
blue collar work. Under her tenure, grassroots WITT groups across the
country increased from 6 to over 40. She published the Network newsletter
and coordinated a national Industrial Adjustment committee of WITT women,
employers, unions, educators and government, looking at programs, policies
and initiatives to increase the successful integration of women in trades,
technical and operational (TTO) work. Their focus on Front Line Education,
WITT Exploratory Course National Standards, Role Modelling, and Employment
Equity led to a national cross-sectoral Human Resource Council and the
publication of "Welcoming Women into Trades, Technology, Operations and Blue
Collar Work: A Checklist of Strategies."
President of the Treasury Board on Employment Equity for Women in the Public
Service and chaired their Sub-Committee on Training. She was instrumental
in recommending the federal government, as employer, develop a service-wide
apprenticeship program with an emphasis on the designated groups and
institute bridging programs to move women into technical occupations.
As a part of the 1989/90 Labour Force Development Strategy, Marcia Braundy
sat on the National Task Force on Apprenticeship, the Canadian Labour Force
Development Board National Apprenticeship Committee from 1991-94, the CLFDB
Employment Equity Working Group, 1993/94, and the BC Provincial
Apprenticeship Board from 1992 to 1997. She chaired their Equity Committee.
She has been a member of the National Women's Reference Group on Labour
Market Issues, the BC Women's Employment and Training Coalition, has
submitted briefs and advocated for Employment Equity and has long been
involved with organizations working for social and economic equality for women.
Her paper, "What Needs to Change to Get More Women Into Apprenticeship"
appears in the book, Strategies That Work: Women In Trades, Technology and
Applied Science, Green Dragon Press 1995. The Equity In Apprenticeship
Resource Kit ,co-authored with Deanna Rexe, was published by the BC Ministry
of Skills, Training and Labour in 1996.
She can be reached at R.R. # 1, Winlaw, British Columbia V0G 2J0 (604)
226-7624 Fx: 226-7954
E -mail: mbraundy@pro.net
Marcia Braundy
Advocate for women in trades, technology, operations and blue collar work
R.R. # 1
Winlaw, British Columbia VOG 2JO, currently living in Vancouver, but mail
will always reach me from here.
mbraundy@pro.net