Home Depot brings Path to Pro to 11- to 17-year-olds

Home Depot is pushing its skilled-trades pipeline earlier, launching a free Path to Pro curriculum for students ages 11 to 17 as part of a goal with The Home Depot Foundation to provide 15 million introductions to construction careers by 2032. The company and The Home Depot Foundation announced the expansion Sept. 17.

Called Path to Pro Skills Explorers, the curriculum was developed with Scouting America and piloted with Boys & Girls Clubs of America. It combines online learning with hands-on projects in areas including woodworking, plumbing and electrical work. Teachers, parents and youth leaders can use facilitator guides and modular lessons in classrooms, homes and after-school programs.

The foundation is awarding more than $13 million in Path to Pro grants, according to a companion announcement on Home Depot’s website. That funding includes expanded work with Boys & Girls Clubs and a new partnership with Scouting America to integrate construction-trades lessons into their programming. Education grants will also be available to youth organizations nationwide; other grants will support training, certification, scholarships and entrepreneurship programs.

“We know that closing the skilled labor gap starts much earlier,” Michael Rowe, Home Depot’s executive vice president of Pro, said in the announcement.

Skills Explorers adds career exploration to an existing training and hiring effort. Home Depot says more than 200,000 people have graduated from its Path to Pro Skills Program, which offers free adult training. The foundation’s nonprofit collaborations have certified more than 70,000 people in the trades.