Built around the trades

Nick Kasik’s Working Class initiative grew from experience in construction and a concern about attracting people to skilled-trade careers. Its message challenges the idea that a four-year college degree is the only respectable route to success.

The initiative has taken shape through the Working Class television show, the book Working Class: Making the Trades Cool Again and outreach to vocational schools, high schools and community leaders.

We connect pride in craftsmanship with clear questions about training, work and learning. The aim is to make vocational routes part of an informed conversation, not to tell every person to take the same path.