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What’s new: This past week was National Apprenticeship Week in the U.S., which showcases the successes and value of registered apprenticeship programs for rebuilding the economy, advancing racial and gender equity and supporting underserved communities.

A Chicago event on Nov. 14 featured First Lady of the United States Jill Biden, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Aon CEO Greg Case, Secretary Walsh, and executives from JP Morgan Chase Co., McDonald’s, United Airlines, Walgreens Boots Alliance and others participated in a roundtable discussion on the importance of apprenticeships and ways to continue to scale the apprenticeship model among more employers, giving even more people greater access to sustainable careers—with paid training to be successful. You can watch a livestream of the event here, including remarks from Aon Apprentice Terionna Wilson.

Why it matters:

• Throughout the week, Aon hosted events in Chicago, Washington D.C., New York, Houston , San Francisco, Minneapolis and Philadelphia to highlight apprenticeship programs and local apprentice networks.
• Aon, Zurich North America and Accenture’s Apprenticeship Programs launched in the U.S. in 2017 and were recently recognized  as Apprenticeship Ambassadors by the U.S. Department of Labor.
• In his 2022 State of the Union Address, U.S. President Joe Biden showed support of apprenticeship programs, stating, “We’re also going to cut costs to keep the economy going strong and giving workers a fair shot; provide more training and apprenticeships; hire them based on skills, not just their degrees.”

What else happened this week:

• The American Institute of CPAs and the U.S. Department of Labor announced the signing of Aon, Liberty Bank and HP to the Registered Apprenticeship for Finance Business Partners program. Learn more here.
• The New York Jobs CEO Council, a nonprofit membership organization that works to scale sustainable, market-driven workforce development solutions, announced the launch of the Jobs Council Apprentice Network along with Aon, Accenture US and Zurich North America.
• Aon Apprentice Lexii Zielinski was named Apprentice of the Year 2022 by the Houston Community College Foundation.

Check out coverage in the Chicago Tribune, WGN-TV and WBEZ Chicago and learn more about Aon apprenticeships on our website.