“We’re lending money we don’t have to kids who can’t pay it back, to educate th
em for jobs that no longer exist. We have become ‘profoundly disconnected’.” – Mike Rowe (“Dirty Jobs”)
Mike Rowe announced the mikeroweWORKS Foundation Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollar Education Scholarship Fund for those looking to explore a career in the skilled trades. We’ve recently established the first mikeroweWORKS scholarship in partnership with Scholarship America specifically for trade-related studies. In spite of its name, the mikeroweWORKS Foundation does not benefit Mike Rowe – it benefits men and women who wish to pursue a career in the skilled trades. The mrW Foundation subsidizes apprenticeships and other forms of skills training. Click HERE for eligibility requirements and application details.
Mike’s perspective: “There’s a skills gap. There are about three and a half million jobs available right now. Ten percent of those jobs require a four year degree or better. That means about 90 percent of them require something else. They require training, they require skill, a willingness to get dirty, perhaps, but mostly, a willingness to learn a new and useful trade. That’s always been for sale, but it’s kind of fallen out of the narrative.”
Bottom line, all monies collected by the Foundation will go to further the mission of mikeroweWORKS – and that is to promote the skilled trades in areas of public awareness, reducing stigmas, education, career planning and job opportunities as well as support organizations that get us there. Yeah, it’s a trade thing.