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The Latinas Welding Guild was founded in October 2017 by Consuelo Poland, a Guatemalan-born artist and welder with the goal to empower women personally, creatively and economically through welding.
The Latinas Welding Guild was founded in October 2017 by Consuelo Poland, a Guatemalan-born artist and welder with the goal to empower women personally, creatively and economically through welding.
On Indianapolis’ near east side, on the corner of Commerce and Massachusetts avenues, right next to Kountry Kitchens’ soul food restaurant, the Latinas Welding Guild brings the community together in effort to pass on resourceful knowledge. With various tools and limitless imagination, the welders put their helmets on and watch the sparks of creation burn bright.
“I like art and I like to work with my hands and heard about Consuelo’s welding classes, so I thought, I’m going to give it a shot,” said Marisol Serrano. “I love it because this is a safe space for me and just being here is super exciting.”
The Latinas Welding Guild was founded in October 2017 by Consuelo Poland, a Guatemalan-born artist and welder with the goal to empower women personally, creatively and economically through welding. Knowing the struggles of the Latino community, she formed the guild to create a space of equal access and education for women, particularly minority women, in what is a heavily male-occupied field.
The Latinas Welding Guild looks to help low- to moderate-income Latinas and non-Latina women gain access to welding skills and certification preparation. According to Zippia.com, female welders made 88% compared to the income of male welders. Meaning for every dollar a man made, the woman made 88 cents.
The hard work and dedication to their program led to receiving the “Diversity in Workforce” award at the 21st annual Mayor’s Celebration of Diversity awards on June 2.
“It was another very proud moment for us,” said Samantha Alba of the guild. “We’re so proud of being part of an organization that works with marginalized people and specifically about gender. It’s hard for women who are interested to go into a male-dominated field and feel comfortable, or that they’re being taken seriously, or that they’re good enough.
“To win that award, it’s an honor and felt very deserved. We’re doing what we need to do to be diverse and inclusive and are educating people on trades that are dying, and I think that’s super important.”
The Latinas Welding Guild offers classes once a week, all year round, for three different types of certification preparations: Metal Inert Gas welding (MIG), Tungsten Inert Gas welding (TIG), and Shielded Metal Arc welding (Stick). After getting these certifications, graduates find many opportunities from the skills that they learned.
“We’ve now had 86 women come through and get certifications, and we’ve placed over 20 of them in jobs,” said instructor and program director Jonathan Garmany. “It’s really exciting to help them empower themselves to help change their lives for the better because welding is a higher-skilled trade that has higher pay and being able to pass down the knowledge that also helped me out before.”
The average welder’s salary in the U.S. is $38,612 annually, with an average starting salary of $29,000.
“Now that I’ve got my certifications, I’m a teacher’s assistant as well at Arsenal Tech,” said Serrano. “I was also able to get involved and help build at parks around here, and that’s been a highlight for me.”
Students who took the course not only are using what they learned for career projects but also right at home in their backyards.
“When people learn how to weld, they’re able to make a railing for their stairs, or planter boxes for their garden, and other things that might go in the community,” said Alba. “To be able to use the trade on projects for the community is one thing, but it also teaches you how to be more self-sufficient in an area, [and that] is what wows me the most. For example, getting under your car and knowing how to weld something is just really helpful to know.”
Alba also states that after getting her certifications in April, she’ll be teaching at Arsenal Tech with Serrano.
The Latinas Welding Guild is now starting co-ed classes—“2 week boot camps,” said Garmany, and the program is income based.
“We help work with the students,” he said. “We’re not going to charge $5,000 for a class if a student can’t afford that. We want to make it accessible for everyone. We offer stipends for gas cards and bus cards.
“We want students to get here, get certified, and learn how to weld.”
For more information about the guild and classes for certifications, visit Latinas Welding Guild.
Ryus Moore is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
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