When I began working with a top 3 auction house, there was a stated challenge - a significant lack of diversity. It was a puzzle for not just this organization, but the fine arts sector at large, which had been attempting to diversify for many years, but suffering some high profile failures. For organizations that prize telling diverse stories and working with people from all over the world, it was surprising. Watch my talk given at the Forum for Workplace Inclusion on the root causes and challenges for the fine arts sector here.

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​Hidden within the conversation was another problem - entry level roles that experienced sky-high turnover. The organization needed a pipeline of candidates that could come in and perform these roles, and find themselves a role that they could see themselves sticking around for, and growing with. This was a challenge for the organization's ability to successfully carry out the day-to-day, as well as for the bottom line.

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Both of these problems had a common root cause - the educational requirements for entry level roles were a mismatch for the work. An administrative assistant, for example, is a role that has been done very well by people from many kinds of educational backgrounds, and often distinguished themselves through their grit and willingness to learn, instead of a four-year degree. At this organization, these roles required master's degrees.​

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This presented an opportunity to solve two problems at once, by identifying candidates that are high potential, but not necessarily college bound, and train them on the skills needed to be hired into full-time roles. This was the birth of the Art Business Apprentice. The first apprenticeship of its kind in the industry globally, as well as the State of New York, the program would provide a nationally-recognized certificate for graduates of the apprenticeship, who could then take those skills to work in auction, museum, galleries and other similar companies.

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The impact of the project was significant. Through partnership with a New York-based community arts organization, I was able to leverage their presence to recruit early-career candidates who were passionate about the arts, and eager to work. The recruitment process yielded  staff who learned quickly, and began delivering value to the organization rapidly by not only learning the work of the company, but being nimble to help various departments, relieving a workload burden on existing staff and creating holistically-trained employees in the process.

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The successful hire of each of the graduates in the program demonstrates that not only did this program succeed in creating the pipeline the company needed, but also provided a candidate pool that was dramatically more diverse than who was typically attracted to their postings. The apprenticeship has gone on to be recognized by the Commissioner of Labor for the State of New York as an innovative program that should serve as a model for how organizations can leverage apprenticeship to solve business challenges.

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I have been invited to speak at New York's upcoming Apprenticeship Summit in Albany. Read The Art Newspaper's article on careers in art, highlighting Michelle's apprenticeship.