The Home Depot Foundation, Home Builders Institute Partner with 100 Black Men of America to Provide Skilled Trades Training

The Home Depot Foundation and its trades training nonprofit partner, Home Builders Institute, are launching a strategic partnership with 100 Black Men of America Inc. intended to increase skilled trades training and career opportunities for Black youth. 

This fall, the three organizations will launch a pilot trades training program serving marginalized communities across Atlanta, Philadelphia and San Francisco. The program will offer skill building workshops, work experience, internship opportunities and industry-recognized PACT certifications. Designed to to prepare Black youth for meaningful careers, the programs will be facilitated through 100 Black Men of America’s existing afterschool programs.

Additionally, The Home Depot Foundation activated a novel partnership with its hometown nonprofit partner, Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs, which is driven by community impact and devoted to empowering Black entrepreneurs and small business owners. The Foundation will provide construction support for an outdoor creativity space at the RICE facility called, “The Yard.”

"As we work to fill the nearly 300,000 open career opportunities across the skilled trades industry, we have to continue advocating for the inclusion of diverse talent," says Shannon Gerber, executive director of The Home Depot Foundation. “The Foundation is energized to team up with Home Builders Institute, 100 Black Men of America Inc. and The Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs to focus on eliminating racial and social inequities through education and workforce development programs.”

“We are thrilled to receive this generous grant from Home Depot. This investment will help us expand our youth workforce and career readiness initiatives with a specific focus on the building trades that are so vital to the economic recovery,” says Chuck Baker, chairman of the board, 100 Black Men of the Bay Area.

“The most important thing we will achieve through this partnership is to give young people a chance to work hard at work worth doing,” says Tadar Muhammad, HBI’s senior vice president for strategic partnerships and development. “We know that when our students acquire marketable trade skills, we give them a shot at improving every element of their lives and the lives around them.”