How Tools Up Foundation Is Bridging the Construction Workforce Gap
Updated: Aug 31
Chicago is building. Everywhere you look, new developments along the lakefront, infrastructure upgrades on the South Side, mixed-use projects reshaping neighborhoods that have waited decades for investment. Cranes are up. Job sites are active. Billions of dollars are moving.
And the industry can't find enough people to do the work.
The construction industry needs to attract an estimated 349,000 net new workers in 2026 just to keep supply and demand in balance — and that number is projected to rise to 456,000 in 2027. Chicagoconstructionnews
Meanwhile, on Chicago's South Side, in Englewood, Roseland, Auburn Gresham, and Chatham, there are thousands of young adults, 18 to 24, who are between jobs or in low-wage work and actively looking for a path forward.
The Disconnect: A Workforce Shortage and a Community Left Out
Here's the part that doesn't make sense on paper: Chicago has one of the most acute construction labor shortages in the country.
The construction industry has a long history of closed doors. Union entry points are hard to navigate if you don't have insider knowledge. Training programs exist, but aren't always accessible or trusted in communities that have been burned by programs before. And the representation problem compounds itself; if you've never seen someone who looks like you working construction, it doesn't feel like a door that opens for you.
Who Is Tools Up Foundation?
Tools Up Foundation (TUF) is a Chicago-based nonprofit founded by Dominique Jones, a Black woman with over a decade of hands-on experience in the construction industry, the founder and CEO of D. Jones Construction, and the founder of Jones Development, a real estate development and investment firm.
After spending years working in this industry, Dominique Jones made a decision: she would build the pipeline herself.
TUF's mission is to provide premium construction education and hands-on training to youth and young adults, specifically in Chicago's underserved communities, with the goal of both revitalizing those communities and giving participants the skills to build a sustainable livelihood.
The foundation is woman-owned, funded through Cook County, the State of Illinois, corporate sponsorships, and construction partnerships, and operates out of its location at 1834 E. 71st Street on the South Side.
What TUF Actually Does: Two Programs, One Pipeline
Most workforce development organizations have one program. TUF has built a pipeline of programs designed to meet people where they are and move them forward.
TUF Teens (Ages 16–18)
The earliest entry point. TUF Teens introduces Chicago youth to construction trades through hands-on training. This is where the pipeline starts - getting young people, including young women from South Side neighborhoods, to see construction as a real option before they've defaulted into something else.
61% of TUF Teens graduates are young women. In an industry where less than 5% of the national workforce is female, that number represents a fundamentally different approach to recruitment.
Pave the Way Up (Ages 18+)
An 11-week, part-time pre-apprenticeship program funded through the Illinois Works initiative administered by the Illinois DCEO. It is free to participants, includes a paid stipend, covers OSHA 10 certification, and is specifically designed to introduce adults to the many trades within the construction industry.
The Illinois Works Pre-Apprenticeship Program is designed to prepare individuals from historically underrepresented communities - especially women, people of color, and veterans - for careers in the construction and building trades. TUF is an approved Illinois Works provider, which means its programming carries state-level validation. Illinois Office of Economic Equity & Empowerment
Why This Work Matters in 2026, And Why Chicago Specifically
The workforce gap in construction is not a single problem. It is several overlapping problems:
The retirement wave. A significant portion of new worker demand in 2026 is attributable to retirement rather than pure demand growth alone; an aging workforce is leaving, and not enough people are coming in behind them. Chicagoconstructionnews
The representation gap. Less than 5% of skilled trade workers nationwide are women. The number for Black workers on Chicago city-funded construction projects is similarly dismal. The people building Chicago do not look like Chicago. Chicago Build 2026
The access gap. Programs like ConstructionWorks, funded by the Illinois Tollway and administered by the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, have enrolled 566 people, secured 140 union apprenticeships, and placed 35 directly on the job. That is meaningful. It also shows how much runway remains. The demand far exceeds the supply of trained, work-ready, diverse candidates. Chicookworks
The knowledge gap. Most young adults from the South Side simply do not know this door exists. They were never told. TUF's recruitment extends to barbershops, beauty salons, currency exchanges, community colleges, churches, and community centers, because that is where the people they serve actually are.
What Makes TUF Different From Other Workforce Programs
Chicago has a number of workforce development organizations doing serious work in construction. HIRE360, Revolution Workshop, the Chicago Architecture Center, ConstructionWorks, and HACIA are all contributing to the pipeline.
What separates TUF is the combination of things no other organization has simultaneously:
A founder with industry credibility. Dominique Jones is not a nonprofit administrator who studied construction. She is a practicing general contractor and real estate developer who founded a nonprofit because she saw the problem from inside the industry. That credibility changes how employers, funders, and participants engage with TUF.
A pipeline approach, not a single intervention. Teens → young adults → pre-apprenticeship → project management. TUF is not placing someone in a 10-week program and calling it done. It is building a career trajectory.
Proof. A 96% completion rate. 100% credential attainment. A majority-female teen cohort. Government funding validation from DCEO. Employer partners already hiring TUF graduates. These are operational results.
Community roots. TUF is not a program that came into the South Side from the outside. It was built here, by someone from here, for people from here. That changes the trust dynamic entirely.
What Funders and Employer Partners Need to Know
For workforce funders, TUF's theory of change is a pipeline. When you fund TUF, you are funding an organization that takes a 15-year-old girl from Roseland and creates a pathway to a $100K+ career in construction project management. The data infrastructure, completion rates, credential attainment, and placement outcomes support accountability at every stage.
TUF is an approved Illinois Works provider, has received state and county funding, and is actively seeking relationships with foundations focused on workforce development, economic mobility, and equity on Chicago's South and West Sides. The Lowe's Foundation's Gable Grant program specifically funds construction pre-apprenticeship nonprofits. The Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance and Illinois DCEO are already familiar with TUF's work.
For construction employer partners, TUF graduates arrive certified. OSHA 10 on day one. They have demonstrated commitment by completing an 11-week program. They are pre-screened. They come from the communities where you are building.
The opportunity is to deepen those relationships and add new ones, particularly mid-size general contractors doing affordable housing, infrastructure, and commercial construction on the South Side.
How to Get Involved
Whether you are a funder, an employer, a community partner, or someone in your 20s on the South Side reading this and wondering if Pave the Way Up is for you, the door is open.
Apply to Pave the Way Up: Visit toolsup.org/pavethewayup. The next cohort is enrolling now. The program is free, includes a stipend, and leads to real certifications and real job placements.
Partner with TUF as an employer: If your firm is hiring and wants access to TUF graduates, reach out directly at toolsup.org. This is not a charity relationship. This is a talent pipeline.
Support TUF's mission as a funder or donor: Donations can be made at toolsup.org/donate. Every dollar funds direct program delivery to South Side youth and young adults.
Refer students or community members: If you are a counselor, community leader, pastor, or anyone else who works with South Side youth and young adults, TUF wants to hear from you. A single referral can change the direction of someone's life.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Tools Up Foundation?
Tools Up Foundation is a Chicago-based nonprofit providing construction education and hands-on training to youth and young adults on the South Side. It operates three programs, TUF Teens (ages 16-18), Pave the Way Up pre-apprenticeship (ages 18+).
Who founded Tools Up Foundation and why?
Dominique Jones is a practicing general contractor with over 10 years of construction industry experience. After seeing firsthand the lack of diversity in construction, she founded TUF to create a pipeline of skilled professionals from communities that have historically been excluded from the industry.
What is the completion rate for TUF's programs?
96% program completion rate and 100% credential attainment. These numbers are significantly above industry norms for workforce training programs serving underrepresented populations.
What certifications do TUF participants receive?
Pave the Way Up graduates receive OSHA 10 certification, one of the most recognized and required credentials in the construction industry, along with additional credentials depending on the program track.
Is TUF's programming funded and validated by the state?
Yes. TUF is an approved Illinois Works provider, funded through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO). This is a meaningful institutional endorsement of TUF's program quality.
What neighborhoods does TUF serve?
Tools Up Foundation primarily serves Englewood, Auburn Gresham, Roseland, Chatham, and surrounding South Side Chicago communities.
How can a funder or employer partner connect with TUF?
Visit toolsup.org or reach out directly through the contact page. For employer partners interested in hiring TUF graduates, the relationship is direct; no intermediary is required.
What is the construction workforce shortage, and how does TUF address it?
The construction industry nationally needs 349,000 new workers in 2026 alone. TUF addresses this by creating a trained, certified, diverse pipeline of workers from Chicago's South Side, connecting people who need opportunity with an industry that desperately needs them.
Where is Tools Up Foundation located? 1834 E. 71st Street, Chicago, IL, on the South Side.
Tools Up Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All programs are free to participants and funded through the Illinois Works Pre-Apprenticeship Program and community partnerships. Tools Up Foundation is located on Chicago's South Side and serves young people and adults across the city's South Side neighborhoods.
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