The Richmond Ed Fund has launched RVA Builds, an $8 million Bloomberg Philanthropies-funded initiative that will connect 500 Richmond Public Schools students with paid, work-based skilled trades experiences — and a clear path to Registered Apprenticeships — by the end of the 2028-29 school year.
The Richmond Ed Fund has launched RVA Builds, a new initiative designed to create direct, paid pathways into the skilled trades for high school students in Richmond, Va. Backed by an $8 million investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies and supported by 17 community partners, the program aims to place 500 Richmond Public Schools students into paid, work-based learning experiences in fields like electrical work, HVAC, welding and construction — all before the end of the 2028-29 school year.
The urgency behind the program is reflected in a telling statistic: today, fewer than 15 Richmond Public Schools graduates enter a Registered Apprenticeship each year. Meanwhile, the largest employers of recent graduates are fast-food chains. RVA Builds represents an effort to dramatically change that reality within just a few years.
“Too many of our students leave high school without a real path to a career that can support a family,” Taikein Cooper, president and CEO of the Richmond Ed Fund, said in a news release. “RVA Builds changes that, and getting it right meant choosing a partner who could both run the technology and stand up genuine Registered Apprenticeships. The Richmond we want depends on building that pipeline, and on building it to last.”
Part of a $90 Million National Push
RVA Builds is one piece of a much larger national effort. Bloomberg Philanthropies recently launched a $90 million skilled trades initiative spanning nine cities and regions across the United States, including Richmond and Washington, D.C. The initiative reflects a growing recognition that Registered Apprenticeships — structured, earn-while-you-learn programs certified by the U.S. Department of Labor — represent one of the most reliable routes to middle-class careers, and that high school students are frequently left out of them.
Richmond’s $8 million allocation is among the larger individual investments in the national initiative, signaling the city’s potential as a model for how school districts and community partners can collectively rebuild vocational pipelines that have eroded over decades.
What the Program Offers
Students who participate in RVA Builds will complete at least 120 hours of paid, work-based learning experience in the skilled trades. Program partners have committed to paying at least $23 per hour in total compensation to graduates who move into Registered Apprenticeships. The goal is for 150 Richmond Public Schools graduates to enter Registered Apprenticeships over the next three years.
Trades covered by the program include electrical, HVAC, welding and construction — occupations with strong regional and national demand and above-average long-term earning potential. Registered Apprenticeships in these fields typically combine on-the-job training with related classroom instruction, and they result in nationally recognized credentials upon completion.
Technology and Infrastructure: BuildWithin’s Role
To manage the scale and compliance demands of the initiative, the Richmond Ed Fund selected BuildWithin — a workforce technology company and U.S. Department of Labor National Apprenticeship Program Sponsor — as its technology partner and Registered Apprenticeship intermediary.
BuildWithin’s platform will handle application intake, AI-assisted skills matching between students and employer partners, and tracking of on-the-job training hours and classroom instruction against federal standards. The company will also design the apprenticeship programs, register and maintain them with the U.S. Department of Labor, and serve as sponsor of record with Virginia Works on behalf of the Richmond Ed Fund.
“Richmond Ed Fund and Bloomberg Philanthropies are reshaping how young people enter the workforce,” William Lopez, co-founder and president of BuildWithin, said in the news release. “Our role is to help turn that opportunity into lasting careers, by pairing a proven apprenticeship model with the technology to run it well as it scales. We are grateful to partner with the Richmond Ed Fund, and we hope the approach taking shape here is useful to other communities working toward the same goal.”
BuildWithin brings relevant prior experience to the effort. In Washington, D.C., the company’s technology helped the city’s labor agency accelerate placement of residents into federally funded training programs — reducing timelines from weeks to days.
Why This Matters Beyond Richmond
The skilled trades face a well-documented workforce shortage nationally, and young people — particularly those from lower-income communities — are underrepresented in Registered Apprenticeship pipelines despite those programs offering wages, credentials, and career advancement often comparable to or exceeding those of four-year college pathways. Programs like RVA Builds are part of a broader push by philanthropists, workforce advocates and policymakers to reconnect high school students — especially those not planning to attend four-year universities — with structured, well-compensated career pathways before they graduate.
The Richmond initiative’s emphasis on compensation standards (at least $23/hour) is notable: it goes beyond simply creating access and attempts to set a wage floor that reflects the actual value of skilled labor, signaling to students that these are genuine career-building opportunities rather than low-wage placeholders.
Eligibility & How to Get Involved
RVA Builds is currently focused on students enrolled in Richmond Public Schools and is operating through the 2028-29 school year. The program works in collaboration with 17 employer and community partners across the Richmond region. Students, families, school counselors and potential employer partners can learn more about the initiative, its participating trades, and how to get connected at rvabuilds.us.
Workforce development organizations and school districts in other cities looking to understand how the model is being built — with an eye toward replicating it — can also explore BuildWithin’s broader platform at BuildWithin.com.
Source: BuildWithin