When Kate Lee was in high school, she was the only girl in an industrial arts class taught by the baseball coach and lucky enough to have a home economics teacher who taught a class on the basics of home planning and design. Years later, after putting her journalism degree to work in the interior design, healthcare and banking industries, Kate was inspired to get involved in education because her kids were going through public schools and the challenges in South Bend were palpable.
“The impacts of economic challenges were obvious, and it was so clear education was going to be the key to fixing so much of what’s broken.”
Kate now leads the South Bend Regional Chamber’s efforts to build an inclusive industry-education ecosystem, working to establish and strengthen relationships between businesses, educators, students, and community organizations. With these partners, she guides career awareness programming and education pathway development, and supports expansion of work-based learning opportunities in several fields including manufacturing, IT, healthcare and the construction trades.
Kate recently coordinated BLDG Trades Week to shine a virtual spotlight on building trades training and career opportunities. The digital tools included on the website above are ideal for educators, students, parents, and adult learners to use when exploring career opportunities in construction trades and related fields.
Kate’s role as bridge-builder between education and workforce could be just the key needed to unlock the great potential of young people and connect them to the significant labor demand in communities like South Bend. Intermediaries, like the South Bend Regional Chamber, play a critical role in addressing biases against career and technical education and can be helpful in addressing employers’ concerns about teens’ abilities and potential. Research from New America’s Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship revealed that perhaps the most substantial role that intermediaries can play is helping to reach agreements between employers and educators with regards to skill and training needs.
To expand her role as a passionate “connector,” Kate recently joined the second cohort of the Harbor Freight Leadership Lab. The lab is a multi-sector initiative bringing together leaders from across the skilled trades education ecosystem to deliver practical leadership tools and certifications for education leaders’ career advancement. After just a few months, Kate is finding this new experience compelling.
“I love it! HFLL is a great space with best practice sharing, learning what’s happening across the country, and it’s amazing to have the opportunity to bring these great ideas back to our local educators.”
Just imagine if all communities across the country – big and small – had a Kate Lee drawing connections and creating opportunities.
