In 2018, The Irvine Foundation awarded the Foundation for California Community Colleges funding through their Better Careers Initiative to support apprenticeship readiness and expansion throughout California community colleges. Through this funding, we created the Apprenticeship Expansion Project, which seeks to expand the knowledge and network of practitioners interested in learning, creating, and expanding apprenticeships in the state.

We are continuing to iterate and build upon existing Apprenticeship Expansion Project/Grow Apprenticeship California work throughout the state, with an added focus on demonstrating the potential of regional community college networks to grow inclusive registered apprenticeship programs.

  • Enhance cross-sector understanding and coordination among statewide and regional partners
  • Increase the capacity of new, expanding, and innovative apprenticeship programs to access funding and plan for sustainability.  
  • Address program sustainability by developing new resources and disseminate effective sustainability practices to the broader community of apprenticeship stakeholders. 

  • To strengthen cross-sector collaboration among statewide and regional partners in order to advance the expansion of  equitable, innovative pre-apprenticeships, enhanced on-the-job training, and registered apprenticeships.
  • To build the capacity of new, expanding, and innovative apprenticeship programs, as well as regional and statewide intermediaries.
  • To advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in new and innovative registered  apprenticeship programs in California, supporting an equitable economic recovery.
  • To understand how Covid-19 has affected  new and innovative apprenticeship programs across California and to disseminate strategies for mitigating its long-term impacts.

  • To increase understanding and demonstrate the potential of regional community college networks to grow inclusive Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs).
  • To deepen the coordination and infrastructure among California Community Colleges for new and innovative RAPs.
  • To provide focused technical assistance and support to ensure the adoption of local, inclusive RAPs that increase equity-based practices to grow RAPs in selected regions and to provide broader support for all regions statewide.
  • Grow Apprenticeship California 3.0 Project Description