Amid Trump’s battle against DEI, nonprofits filling critical labor gaps
are caught in the crossfire
[May 12, 2025] By
CLAIRE SAVAGE and ALEXANDRA OLSON
CHICAGO (AP) — Recruiting women into construction has for years been a
painstaking but broadly popular effort, with growing bipartisan and
industry support amid persistent labor shortages. But President Donald
Trump's aim to stamp out diversity and inclusion programs threaten to
cripple community-based organizations that have been critical to that
goal.
The Trump administration has moved swiftly to cut off federal funding to
dozens of community groups that implement programs on the ground,
including apprenticeship readiness programs designed for women,
anti-harassment training, and child care and transportation support for
workers who need them.
The overhaul stems from a pair of anti-DEI executive orders, which
direct federal agencies to cancel all “equity-related” grants, and
require government contractors and recipients of federal funds to
certify, under threat of crippling penalties, that they do not operate
any DEI programs that violate anti-discrimination laws.
The orders have set off a scramble among corporations, universities, law
firms and major philanthropies to figure out how to adapt their DEI
policies to avoid losing federal funding. Some have challenged the
executive orders head on.
But for many nonprofits, the orders pose an existential threat because
their very mission involves providing services to historically
marginalized communities. Several nonprofits that provide housing,
health and workforce development services have teamed up with civil
rights organizations to file lawsuits challenging the president's
anti-DEI orders, arguing they are so vague about what might constitute
“illegal” DEI that compliance is impossible and violates free speech.
Stakeholders in the construction industry are closely following a
lawsuit filed by Chicago Women in Trades, an organization founded in
1981 to help women enter the skilled trades. Other similar groups said
they were considering litigation after the Department of Labor yanked
their grants last week, saying in termination notices that their work
promoting gender equity no longer aligns with government priorities.
About 40% of Chicago Women in Trades’ stems from federal funding,
according to court filings.
As the lawsuits play out, Chicago Women in Trades Executive Director
Jayne Vellinga said hiring and future programming has stalled because
the ultimate fate of the organization's funding is unclear. Current
programs are continuing under a cloud of uncertainty.
The sound of whirring drills filled the Ironworkers Local 63 training
center just outside Chicago during one exploratory training program that
is reliant on state and federal funds. About two dozen women donned hard
hats, work gloves and safety glasses to practice assembling windows as
an instructor looked on. Two groups raced each other to see how quickly
they could perfect each assembly. Another practices caulking nearby.
During the 10-week program, participants spend a week exploring
different trades with experienced carpenters, electricians and iron
workers. About 70% of the participants successfully move on to
apprenticeships.
Sam Barraza, 24, joined the program after struggling with an office job
due to ADHD. During a rotation with the Bricklayers Union, Barazza was
hired as an apprentice in tuck pointing, a masonry repair process used
to restore older buildings.
But Barrazza, who is nonbinary, said they would never have discovered
the trade or understood how to get a foothold in the industry without a
program like Chicago Women in Trades.
“There are so many insider things that, if your uncle was in the trades,
or your dad did it, whatever, you would know,” Barazza said. “It’s the
first time I’ve been excited for a career instead of like, ‘I just have
to work to live.’”
Government agencies, construction companies and labor unions have
invested billions of dollars to expand apprenticeships and other
programs to draw younger generations into the skilled trades, an effort
that dates back decades but accelerated as the Biden administration
ramped up investment in infrastructure and the semiconductor industry.
Key components include initiatives to make worksites more welcoming to
women, racial minorities and LGBTQ people who have long faced bias and
harassment in an industry that is majority white and overwhelmingly
male.
Progress has been slow but steady over the years. Women, for instance,
comprise only 4% of skilled trade workers, but that’s a nearly 30%
increase since 2018 and a record high, according to U.S. labor
statistics that have been celebrated by both women’s advocacy groups and
industry associations. Advocates say recruiting more women and minority
to well-paid skilled jobs helps alleviate gender and racial pay gaps
while addressing labor shortages.
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Carol Otarola practices caulking during an Ironworkers Local 63
pre-apprenticeship class Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Broadview,
Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
 Far from being a target during the
first Trump administration, Chicago Women in Trades received two
grants in 2019 and 2020 under the Women in Apprenticeship and
Nontraditional Occupations program, known as WANTO, which dates back
to a 1992 Congressional act signed by President George H.W. Bush.
The first Trump administration increased funding for the program and
even invited Vellinga to a webinar to tout its accomplishments: more
than $8.5 million in grants to 17 community organizations that
served more than 3,500 women. Funding for WANTO surged under the
Biden administration, which awarded nearly $18 million in grants to
more than 20 organizations.
But the future of WANTO is in limbo. Last week, the Labor Department
sent termination notices to many of the current grants recipients,
saying their work no longer aligns with the administration’s
priorities because of their focus on gender equity and diversity,
several of the organizations told The Associated Press.
Chicago Women in Trades' WANTO grant is protected for now under a
preliminary injunction issued last month by Judge Matthew Kennelly,
of the U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois. Kennelly
ruled that canceling the grant would likely violate the
Constitution's separation of power provisions because the funds are
congressionally appropriated. He declined to protect Chicago Women
in Trades' four other federal grants.
The Labor Department did not reply to multiple emails seeking
clarity about its intentions for WANTO and other similar federal
initiatives to expand recruitment in manufacturing and construction.
In his 2026 fiscal year budget request, Trump pledged to keep
investing in the expansion of apprenticeship opportunities. But in
grant-consolidation proposal dubbed “Make America Skilled Again,”
Trump said the Labor Department would eliminate grants to
“progressive non-profits" that focus on DEI and instead direct
funding to states and localities that will have the flexibility to
decide how to spend them. The Trump administration argues that many
DEI policies pressure employers to hire based on race or gender, or
unfairly shut out some workers from training and funding
opportunities.
But construction firms have supported outreach programs to women out
of sheer need: The industry is seeking more than 400,000 new workers
this year to meet anticipated demand, according to trade group
Associated Builders and Contractors.
“We need all of the talent and resources that we can get,” said
Vanessa Jester, community and citizenship director for Turner
Construction in Columbus, Ohio, where construction worker shortages
are especially acute.
The company has partnered Chicago Women in Trades and other
community groups to expose women and girls to the construction
industry.
“If these young girls can’t see it, feel it, touch it and see that
there’s an opportunity, we’re not going to be able to grow,” Jester
added.
Turner Construction is one of 800 firms that have joined the
“Culture of CARE” program launched in 2019 by the Associated General
Contractors of America to address harassment, hazing and bullying
that has long plagued in the industry.
The association, which has 27,000 member firms, says on its website
that Trump's executive orders on DEI have prompted a review of its
initiative and resources “to ensure continued compliance with the
law.”
Brian Turmail, the association’s vice president of Public Affairs &
Workforce, said that while the language of some guidance might be
changed, the organization plans to double down on “Culture of Care,"
saying it's about preventing discrimination that drives away many
women and racial minorities from the field.
“There isn’t any other way for the industry to be viable,” he said.
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