The Pro/Tech Conference Travel Funding Award application deadline is right around the corner!

Did you know that we provide our Professional and Technical members with up to $1,500 per year (in reimbursements) to attend local and national conferences?* 

Apply before December 1 for any conferences that you plan to attend in 2024.

Professional and Technical workers also have professional development money available to them.

These benefits enable you to attend conferences, advance your career, and minimize personal out-of-pocket costs.

Here’s how it works:

• Pro/Tech Conference funding can cover the cost of travel (hotel, transportation expenses, etc.) and registration fees.
• Pro/Tech Professional Development benefits can cover the cost of attending a conference, e.g., registration fees.
• Both benefits require members to earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

The deadline to apply for a Pro/Tech Conference Travel Funding Award is December 1.**

*Applications must be submitted before the conference.

**For conferences in 2024.

On October 25, 2023, the SEIU Healthcare 1199NW Multi-Employer Training & Education Fund (Training Fund) marks its 15-year anniversary. This milestone event celebrates innovative labor/management partnerships that drive workforce solutions, and will bring together union members, healthcare employers, education partners, community-based organizations, and staff. Attendees will include member speakers, representatives from major healthcare employers across Washington, and local dignitaries such as SEIU Healthcare 1199NW President Jane Hopkins, and King County Executive Dow Constantine

The Training Fund is a labor/management partnership that brings together Washington’s biggest healthcare union and its largest healthcare employers to align on investing in workforce development and community representation. Established in 2008, the Training Fund has expanded beyond programs and services that promote career advancement for healthcare workers, to also implement several healthcare apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, and certified nursing assistant programs. This ground-breaking enterprise leverages the healthcare industry’s greatest strengths – its people and institutions – to collectively keep pace with this rapidly changing, ever expanding and highly complex sector.

The Training Fund’s accomplishments include:

• Supporting more than 1,500 healthcare workers annually with Career Counseling services since 2018
• More than $23.8 million awarded in federal, state, and private grants 
• Six Washington State-registered Healthcare Apprenticeships (spanning medical/pharmacy & behavioral health pathways)
• 106 pre-apprenticeship program participants since 2021
• Career Connect Washington‘s Healthcare Sector Leader
• 167 certified Nursing Assistants have completed our NA-C training program since 2021
• 408 members have used Tuition Assistance to advance their careers and education in 2023 alone — 63% of them identify as BIPOC

Learn more about our work and accomplishments over the last 15 years in our press release 15 Years of Advancing Healthcare Careers, Creating Career Pathways and Improving Patient Care across Washington.

“Behavioral health care requires a skilled and experienced workforce, and King County is committed to investing in a system that puts workers at the center to best meet the needs of providers, patients, and the region as a whole. The Training Fund’s Behavioral Health apprenticeship program is so important, and King County is pleased to fund this collaborative approach that is advancing healthcare careers and building a workforce that will strengthen and enhance the behavioral health system overall. It is amazing to see the impacts of the last 15 years and to hear inspiring stories of these apprentices and their mentors.” 

Dow Constantine, King County Executive

“As we celebrate 15 years, the Training Fund is increasingly a go-to partner for healthcare workforce development and solutions across Washington and the region. We are proud of our accomplishments and of the many productive cross-sector partnerships that have brought them to fruition.” 

 Laura Hopkins, Executive Director, SEIU Healthcare 1199NW Multi-Employer Training & Education Fund

“It’s really important for everyone who works in healthcare to be able to have a career pathway. That’s what the Training Fund does for people. The Training Fund can change people’s lives. The Training Fund meets the needs of all of our communities—including low-income and communities of color. We are proud of the Training Fund’s 15 years of creating career pathways that enable caregivers to reflect the populations they serve and provide equitable access to meaningful work.” 

Jane Hopkins, President, SEIU Healthcare 1199NW and Board of Trustees Co-Chair for the Training Fund

“We need healthcare workers desperately. The Training Fund not only helps with recruitment, but also with retention of workers. As we mark 15 years, the breadth of programs and services available to Training Fund members and participants continues to impact the lives of thousands of healthcare workers and, by extension, the care that their patients receive. At Providence-Swedish, we’re proud to have worked with the Training Fund on several innovative programs, including the Advanced Certification for EVS Technicians and the Culinary Pathway Program.” 

Renee Rasilyer-Bomers, Chief Nursing Officer for Providence-Swedish and Board of Trustees Chair for the Training Fund

The multi-employer, labor-management partnership model allows the Training Fund to attract significant grant dollars to expand services for its members and the broader community. The Training Fund has received funding through multiple federal, state, and private grants, including more than $23.8 million in grant funding. We truly appreciate this important support from our funding partners. Special thanks to the following funders:

• State of Washington Department of Labor & Industries
• U.S. Department of Labor’s Healthcare Career Advancement Program Closing the Skills Gap Grant
• King County American Rescue Plan Act Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Grant
• Seattle Office of Economic Development
• Ballmer Group

Learn more about our work and accomplishments. Read our press release 15 Years of Advancing Healthcare Careers, Creating Career Pathways and Improving Patient Care across Washington

These amazing opportunities are available to support active RN members for two years or until available funds are exhausted, whichever comes first. If you have already spent your Tuition Assistance or Professional Development funding, you can apply now for additional Scholarship and/or Professional Development support.

RN Scholarship funding

Scholarship funding is additional Tuition Assistance (TA) support that is available to RN members who have already exhausted their existing TA funds. Similar to Tuition Assistance, this Scholarship funding is prorated based on the member’s FTE.

Have questions about Scholarship funding? Contact your Navigator to learn more and get started.

RN Professional Development Support

Professional Development support is additional Professional Development (PD ) funding that is available to RN members who have already exhausted existing PD funds. It can be used to cover CEUs and courses, specialty certifications, and professional memberships.

Have questions about PD Support funding? Contact your Navigator to learn more and get started.

Nkechi Odigwe, currently an on-call CNA at MultiCare Auburn Medical Center, is unafraid to reach for her dreams. 

Two years ago, Nkechi was a Nutrition Assistant at Multicare Auburn. She wanted to work toward being a nurse, but knew that there were many obstacles: prerequisites, tests, program costs, applications, and more. 

So she reached out to the Training Fund, which she had heard about from her co-workers. After talking through her career options with a Training Fund staff member, Nkechi enrolled in prerequisite courses at Highline College.  

She also found the Training Fund’s tutoring service for the TEAS exam very helpful. Nkechi notes that the Training Fund “supported me during my nursing prerequisite classes and when I wanted to take my TEAS exam [with] workshops, online tutors, and study books.” 

Nkechi’s Training Fund navigator Joshua Porter (now the Training Fund’s Director of Labor/Management Programs) encouraged her to reach out to local nursing schools for admission. Pretty soon, Nkechi applied and had offers from multiple schools. Joshua helped Nkechi, she says, by “going through my personal statement, resume and cover letter before I submitted it.” Nkechi also got a letter of recommendation from the Training Fund for her nursing residency. 

Nkechi will graduate from Pierce College’s ADN program this spring! After preparing for and passing her NCLEX exam, Nkechi will then work toward her BSN through UW­­-Tacoma’s RN-to-BSN program. 

Training Fund navigators make it easy for members to clarify questions and achieve their goals. Nkechi writes, “The advice and guidance from [Porter] was very helpful. Anytime that I am confused on what to do and call him, he will get back to me without delay.” 

Nkechi wants her coworkers to know that the Training Fund can help them, too: “The Training Fund will help them to advance in their career as they are working and achieve their goal in life. All the assistance and support that they need for their education dream can come from the Training Fund.” 

Contact us today to find out how you can achieve your career and education goals through your Training Fund benefits!

Training Fund ED Laura Hopkins alongside Behavioral Health Tech apprentices Jessica Ramirez and Cynthia DeRocher.

HCAC and the Training Fund are committed to addressing the needs of the state’s behavioral health workforce. The Behavioral Healthcare Apprenticeship Program is a registered statewide apprenticeship program that directly responds to these needs and aims to: promote accessibility to services, build a pathway of skilled and diverse candidates, and stabilize the behavioral health workforce through increased employee motivation and retention.

This innovative program offers three career pathways to address specific areas of concern:

• Behavioral Health Technician: 1-year program
• Peer Counselor: 1-year program
• Substance Use Disorder Professional: 2-year program

Learn more at our webpage highlighting the three programs and sign up to stay up-to-date.

The Pro/Tech Conference Travel Funding Award application deadline is right around the corner!

Did you know that we provide our Professional and Technical members with up to $1,500 per year (in reimbursements) to attend local and national conferences?*

Apply before June 1 for any conferences that you plan to attend between October and December 2023.

These benefits enable you to attend conferences, advance your career, and minimize personal out-of-pocket costs.

Here’s how it works:

• Pro/Tech Conference funding can cover the cost of travel (hotel, transportation expenses, etc.) and registration fees.
• Pro/Tech Professional Development benefits can cover the cost of attending a conference, e.g., registration fees.
• Both benefits require members to earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

The deadline to apply for a Pro/Tech Conference Travel Funding Award is June 1.**

*Applications must be submitted before the conference.

**For conferences between October 1 and December 31, 2023.