b'SKILLED TRADES ROUNDTABLEMODERATOR & PANELISTSTIM LARONDE (MODERATOR) Nipissing First Nation Robinson Huron Treaty in Ontario National Director, Indigenous Strategies,Chandos ConstructionWHITNEY DESJARLAIS Cree Cold Lake, Alberta, part of Treaty 6 Territory Driller Operator, Pimee Well ServicingI got involved [in the skilled trades] through a friend who said that this company [Pimee] was hiring women. I applied and went in for an interview, and I got the job. The driller operator is in charge of the whole crew. They operate each piece of equipment and make sure the job gets done safely.REBECCA KRAGNES McMurray Mtis Indigenous Business Relations Manager,Bird ConstructionPartly inspired by her mother, a power engineer with Syncrude Canada, Kragnes began her career in the skilled trades at the age of 19: Her work in the industry showed me the economic benefits of working in trades. When she was starting out, Kragnes applied for a co-operation apprenticeship program offered through the non-profit foundation CAREERS in Fort McMurray. They ensure that you have the four-year job placement, so you complete your practical [training]so they help you find work. CAROL MOEN President & CEO, Women Building Futures We work with unemployed and underemployed women, and we build their confidence [so they are] able to connect themselves to economic security, and we support them in areas where women are traditionally underrepresented. Moen notes that Women Building Futures focuses on areas of underrepresentation because those are areas that pay very well and [where] Aboriginal Business Report spoke to theincredibly talented women can develop. panelists directly to get more insightNATASHA SWAN into the topic: Paul First Nation Journeyman Carpenter, Chandos ConstructionWHAT ARE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT BARRIERSSwan found it challenging to choose a career after high PREVENTING WOMEN school, until one day she decided to take the advice ESPECIALLY INDIGENOUSof her brother, who was employed in carpentry, and WOMENFROM ENTERING THEapplied for work at a high-rise being built in her neigh-SKILLED TRADES? bourhood. Today, she says, More doors have opened Whitney Desjarlais: Just being a womanfor me now that I have my journeyman designation. I can choose to stay in my role as a carpenter or I can in general in the trades, when I started,progress to a lead hand, foreman or site superinten-was very, very difficult. I think there weredent. I can go back to school to specialize in a field; I a couple [of other women] before me, butcan try construction estimating or get into project coor-I didnt get to meet them. I have otherdinating or management.female friends, not in the same trade Aboriginal BUSINESS REPORT87'