The Winpisinger Center has opened applications for the 2026 Chris Wagoner Memorial Leadership Grant, with a submission deadline of November 30. The grant is designed to help local chapters send current and future leaders to leadership training at the center when financial resources are limited.
According to Official Circular 908, which set up the grant, one local from each International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Territory is eligible for funding every year. This includes locals from the Eastern, Midwestern, Western, Southern, Canadian, and Air Transport Territories as well as Headquarters and vicinity, including the Rail Division. The grant covers all costs incurred by a local in sending a member to a leadership program at the Winpisinger Center.
The grant can be renewed for each selected local. Members chosen by their locals may attend up to four annual leadership programs if they complete each previous program satisfactorily and if their local submits an accountability statement confirming their participation in union activities.
Seven locals were awarded the inaugural Chris Wagoner Memorial Leadership Grant in 2025: Local 550 (Surrey, British Columbia), Local 4538 (Towson, Maryland), Local 1894 (South Ozone Park, New York), Local 2916 (Corpus Christi, Texas), Local 104 (Huntington, West Virginia), Local 1613 (Vandalia, West Virginia), and Local W38 (Shelton, Washington).
The grant was established by delegates at the 2024 IAM International Convention to honor Chris Wagoner’s contributions. Wagoner served as Director of the William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center until his death in 2022 after three decades with IAM. “Brother Wagoner…believed that expanding opportunities for Leadership training was critical to our future growth and strength as a union.”