WestCal Academy

Join us for an Apprenticeship Workshop hosted by WestCal Academy® and Riverside Workforce Development Division of Housing and Workforce Solutions!

📅 Monday, May 11, 2026
⏰ 4:00pm – 6:00pm
📍 1325 Spruce St, Riverside, CA (First Floor, Room 1A)

Learn about apprenticeship opportunities, career pathways, and how to get started in high-demand trades. Connect with resources, ask questions, and take the next step toward your future!!

✅ Free event
🅿️ Free parking
📲 Free Registration required – scan the QR code to sign up

Part of U.S. Department of Labor's National Apprenticeship Week.

👉🏼Join us on Wednesday, April 8 from 5:00pm – 7:00pm at Innovation & Instruction 1300 for our PATHWAYS to Private & Federal Careers: Job Readiness Workshop at California State University, Dominguez Hills with Dr.John Paul Tabakian as the main speaker.

➡️Career Pathways & Federal vs. Private Sector
Dr. Tabakian will discuss navigating both federal and private sector career paths and why they’re NOT as limited as people think! Federal careers go beyond grey cubicles, offering opportunities in fields like outdoor environments, engineering, healthcare, and more.

🫱🏼‍🫲🏾We will also discuss power of having an industry mentor and how building the right network can shape your career trajectory.

➡️Financial Advice for Long-Term Success
Dr. Tabakian will also cover retirement investing, budgeting, and practical strategies to help you make better financial decisions today while building long-term wealth for the future.

🗓️National Apprenticeship Week is ALMOST here! Spanning from April 26 to May 2, WestCal® is on a continued mission to Make Education Great Again®.

📢 Join us for a FREE WestCal Construction Career & Resources Fair on Tuesday, April 28 from 3–5pm at 1156 E Avenue S, Palmdale. Connect with construction trade professionals, apprenticeship programs, and support services all in one place.

🏗️ Everyone is welcome — especially youth, veterans, women, and justice-impacted individuals ready to build a new path.

📍 Free parking | All ages welcome | No cost to attend

WestCal® and the world has lost a remarkable mentor, dear friend, and accomplished businessman.

Brad Liszt's connection to WestCal Academy® began 30 years ago with a casual request for a lighter from now WestCal Academy® President, John Paul Tabakian at Carissimo, a now-closed coffee shop in Redondo Beach. Brad asked for a lighter, John Paul gave it to him, and Brad kept it with him. It has been a longstanding joke between two unlikely friends who enjoyed each other company.

Over the course of those 30 years, JP and Brad developed each their own entrepreneurial businesses and would later collaborate closely. Brad was drawn to WestCal Academy's mission of legitimizing and destigmatizing cannabis through workforce apprenticeships. He served as a board member of WestCal Academy® and as a member of the WestCal® CTE Apprenticeship Standards Committee overseeing cannabis — contributing his real-world expertise to the development of standards that would shape the industry's professional future. Brad's involvement reached the national stage as well, as Brad participated in the National CTE program encompassing cannabis cultivation, production, and distribution, developed in collaboration with WestCal Academy® and the United States Department of Labor.

His contributions extended beyond governance and policy. He gave generously of his time to our WestCal® students through experience as a mentor, speaking in JP's Business Communications classes at California State University, Dominguez Hills, and offering decades of hard-earned wisdom and encouragement to incarcerated youth at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall. So valued was his perspective that Brad became the subject of multiple WestCal® Career Pathway Interview Assignments. His story and insights served as a living curriculum for students navigating their own professional pathways.

Brad Liszt's life in business was as remarkable as the man himself. He built a distinguished career in music disc replication through his company, Disc Replicators International, working alongside some of the most celebrated names in West Coast hip-hop, rap, and even rock. He later co-founded Dr. Zodiak's Moonrock, a cannabis production company, alongside his stepson Danny — a venture that reflected his natural entrepreneurial nature and his belief in the industry's legitimate future. Brad has been instrumental in forging new national standards of quality assurance to assure safety for all cannabis customers. Brad and WestCal Academy® have brought medical standards to the cannabis industry that include sterile processing, to assure safety for all customers. This work has also led to the establishment of a national Career Technical Education (CTE) Apprenticeship Program with the United States Department of Labor for all occupations and employers that include the cannabis industry.

Brad leaves behind a mark and legacy in everyone fortunate enough to have known him and will be tremendously missed. Cheers to you, Brad! 🍻

WestCal and the world lost a great mentor, friend, and business man. Please send a message if you plan to attend.

🛠️ Let's take a look back at the WestCal AV Construction Career and Resource Fair with Paving The Way Foundation in Lancaster, CA! brought to you in part by the California Department of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS) ERiCA grant, and the U.S. Department of Labor.

📍This event was a one-stop-shop blend of labor trade unions, community wrap-around resources, food, music, networking, and an outdoor interactive Tuff Shed build out for students' use of future hands-on construction labs.

🗓️ Miss this one? Check out our next one by following us on social media for announcements!