ORT History

Ever since its founding in St. Petersburg in 1880, ORT has changed lives through vocational education that allows students to make a living. Our original mission was to resist oppressive educational quotas imposed on Jews in Czarist Russia funded by generous donors. By providing instruction in marketable skills, Russia’s persecuted and impoverished Jewish people were able to survive.

In Russian, the letters O-R-T form the acronym "Obshestvo Remeslenovo i zemledelcheskovo Trouda", translated as "The Society for Handicrafts and Agricultural Work". When ORT was created, farming and manual competencies were the keys to steady work. ORT is now known in the United States and other English speaking countries as the”Organization for Educational Resources and Technological Training”.

By 1970 ORT had grown into the largest non-governmental, privately-financed vocational training school system on the planet. Now World ORT operates a worldwide network of over 800 schools and training centers with an enrollment of more than 300,000 students in 60 countries. Over two million people have participated in and benefited from ORT programs all over the globe.

Through the years, the skills taught by ORT have been continuously evolving with technology. Today, we are still in the business of bringing economic self-sufficiency to people and communities in need.  In addition to providing instruction in the trades and other manual labor jobs that require expertise, ORT teaches its students how to become computer technology proficient as well as start entry level careers in business accounting and medical support. For more on ORT History go to the ORT Archive.

Our Chicago training school, Zarem/Golde ORT Technical Institute (ORT Technical Institute) was founded in 1991 to support the large influx of immigrants from the former Soviet Union in their transition to their new home in America. Even though we still have students from as many as 60 countries, we also serve students from the local community to help them upgrade their work skills to compete in a changing and challenging job market. 

ORT is a non-profit organization offering men and women from all backgrounds the opportunity to gain an education that will prepare them for the workplace in business, industry and technology in the spirit of ORT’s original mandate. We consider ourselves to be “A Welcoming Community of Practical Learning.” Zarem/Golde ORT Technical Institute is affiliated with ORT America, a volunteer organization that is the umbrella organization of ORT in the United States.