Jill Biden, cabinet members visit Chicago, Rolling Meadows on Monday to highlight apprenticeships

WASHINGTON — First lady Jill Biden visits Chicago and Rolling Meadows on Monday to kick off National Apprenticeship Week with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, the White House announced on Thursday.

The purpose of the trip, the White House said, is to “highlight the Biden administration’s commitment to strengthening our economy and building pathways to good-paying jobs through registeredapprenticeships and career-connected learning.”

Biden and the three cabinet members will first stop at Rolling Meadows High School, in the northwest suburb, to “meet with students in the school’s Career Pathwaysprogram.”

After that, they head to Chicago to highlight “successful” apprenticeship programs “offeringpathways to good-paying jobs” at an event featuring Aon, a company long involved in apprenticeship programs in partnership with the Chicago ApprenticeNetwork and the Business Roundtable.

In September, the Biden-Harris administration launched “the Apprenticeship Ambassador Initiative, a national network of more than 200 employers and industry organizations, labor organizations, educators, workforce intermediaries and community-based organizations who are committed to strengthening and diversifying registered apprenticeship.”