AROUND THE UNITED STATES, the tree-care industry is a promising but underrecognized employment option for many workers without higher education or specialized training. These jobs are stable and well compensated, offer opportunities for advancement, and contribute to the fast-moving green economy. Yet many communities that could benefit most from such attractive job opportunities have historically been underrepresented in this field.

American Forests has set out to help change that as part of the mission of its Tree Equity work. Its Career Pathways Initiative does so in part by providing tools to tree-care employment training programs around the country and connecting training program professionals so they can learn from each other.

These programs assist job candidates, especially those from underrepresented communities, in preparing to enter and thrive in the tree-care industry. American Forests’ Arboriculture Pre-Employment Curriculum gives these programs a practical resource to guide or supplement pre-employment training. It includes modules on work-readiness skills like financial literacy, conflict resolution and resume writing. It also provides training in basic tree-care capabilities such as tree identification, safety, climbing and pruning. The curriculum is available free online and has already been downloaded by 200 unique training programs, municipalities, private employers, educational institutions and more since its release in October 2022.

In December 2022, American Forests launched the Tree Equity Workforce Network, whose members gather virtually every month to attend content-based webinars and participate in Community Labs for networking, sharing and learning. There are close to 90 official members, though new people drop in regularly, and events average 30–40 participants.

American Forests’ Director of Career Pathways Tiffany Mrotek has plans to create sub-groups or specialty programming for the group, and her goal is to rack up 100 members by year-end. But, she says, “The number doesn’t matter so much to me as what use people are getting out of it. The network is for the members, and the activities are driven by the stated needs of event attendees. We’ve heard from our network members that this is filling a gap and what’s been needed. It’s been fulfilling to watch this bloom.”