Our Grantees

An initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP), Ascend Indiana serves as a link between organizations, people, and programs to ensure all Hoosiers and all employers are equipped to thrive in Indiana’s evolving economy. Ascend is focused on building talent pathways, opening doors for more Hoosiers to find careers with Indiana employers through our online job-matching platform and collecting and disseminating qualitative and quantitative data that informs statewide workforce development strategies. As part of its mission to build talent pathways, Ascend Indiana is focused on expanding youth apprenticeship opportunities through a coordinated statewide approach, with goals to increase the total number of youth apprentices and reduce barriers for work-based learning for students and employers across the state.

Career Launch Chicago (CLC) is an innovative workforce development initiative led by City Colleges of Chicago that creates diverse pathways for high school students to explore and enter high-demand careers. Moving beyond traditional apprenticeships, CLC offers a spectrum of engagement opportunities. They have restructured student engagement to a portfolio approach targeting high school seniors interested in City Colleges, undecided students exploring college and career options, and students interested in trades and technical careers. CLC is expanding career exploration through adding makerspaces in high schools, reaching 500+ students annually, implementing a data-driven apprentice development system to capture monthly reflections across growth domains, and enhancing institutional alignment between City Colleges and apprenticeships.

Career Launch Kalamazoo works with local businesses to create an equitable talent pipeline that enables Kalamazoo Public School students to achieve postsecondary education and workforce success through youth apprenticeship in education, advanced manufacturing, business services, skilled trades and professional trades, and information technology. With a state-of-the-art Career and Technical Center opening in May 2025, they are expanding recruitment for apprenticeship programs while broadening their scope to include KPS graduates up to age 24, recognizing that many graduates maintain connections with The Kalamazoo Promise and Kalamazoo Valley Community College after graduation. With strong interest and participation in the education sector, Career Launch Kalamazoo is prioritizing the expansion of their Teacher Apprenticeship program in addition to growing their Business Apprenticeship pathway, all while increasing access for underrepresented CTE and non-CTE students and providing resources to enhance career readiness.

ECEPTS (Early Care and Education Pathways to Success), a project of Tides Center, advances the professional development and economic well-being of the early care and education workforce through apprenticeship, field building, and systems change. ECEPTS launched its first ECE Youth Apprenticeship program in Oakland in 2019, enabling high school students to earn Child Development Associate Teacher permits and continue to AA degrees with Lead Teacher Permits. The Oakland Youth Apprenticeship program continues to enroll students annually. ECEPTS is developing three new Youth Apprenticeship cohorts in partnership with Contra Costa County Office of Education and San Joaquin Delta College, enrolling approximately 30 new apprentices across three counties with paid summer training through expanded employer partnerships, including the YMCA, local school districts, and various Head Start sites.

Future Focused Education (FFE) is working to create systems that sustain healthier and more prosperous communities for those who need it the most. FFE builds on its successful X3 Internship Program to launch youth apprenticeships in healthcare and skilled trades, establishing seamless pathways from high school to careers that promote both apprentice and community prosperity. FFE is designing and launching a Statewide Behavioral Health Youth Council to register a Youth Peer Support Specialist (YPSS) Apprenticeship. FFE will increase Indigenous and rural participation in X3 NeXt and Youth Apprenticeships and enhance transition supports for students with disabilities to participate in X3 NeXt.

In partnership with the Foundation for California Community Colleges, LAUNCH Apprenticeship Network facilitates partnerships between industry, education, and workforce leaders to ensure residents of California have access to apprenticeships and education. As an intermediary and registered apprenticeship program sponsor, LAUNCH supports statewide and regional efforts between community colleges, K-12 school districts, and workforce boards. Specifically, within the Inland Empire of California, LAUNCH makes their region’s apprenticeship system accessible to youth by partnering with early-adopter industries in advanced manufacturing, automotive, education, healthcare, and information technology. They are building an effective pipeline connecting high school graduates to community college-based registered apprenticeships. LAUNCH will collaborate with IEConnect, San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, and Riverside County Office of Education to establish scalable templates for expanding youth apprenticeship opportunities, increase enrollment directly from high school, and create more access points for opportunity youth.

Project for Pride in Living’s Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential initiative (PPL LEAP) identifies effective strategies for helping youth and young adults overcome challenges and succeed in school and at work by adapting evidence-based models to work for the unique needs and strengths of “Opportunity Youth.” PPL LEAP is expanding its career readiness and career exposure offerings to launch a formal youth apprenticeship model with employer partners in glasswork, nonprofit operations, and green energy (solar and green construction, specifically). PPL LEAP aims to engage youth in their apprenticeship pathways using their structured Employer Engagement Wheel, and established a Youth Apprenticeship Committee from the LEAP Advancement Board to ensure youth voice in all program stages. This committee allows PPL LEAP to explore new industry pathway potential by assessing youth interest first and market landscape second.

Reach Higher Montana helps students make informed and inspired decisions about their futures. Reach Higher Montana is building on their work designing youth apprenticeship programs in Information Technology and Healthcare, developing implementation strategies for school districts, and convening statewide partners to create an expandable youth apprenticeship model. Reach Higher Montana will prioritize pre-apprenticeships and youth apprenticeships specifically in the healthcare sector partnering with Montana Health Network to provide certified nursing assistant training to students aged 16-24, establishing programs in new communities enrolling students in nursing registered apprenticeship programs. Reach Higher Montana will continue its partnership with the Rocky Boy Indian Health Center to expand pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship opportunities in allied health careers, with a specific focus on increasing the number of rural and tribal apprentices.

Learn more about MYAP here.

Say Yes Buffalo partnership works to remove barriers to educational attainment, workforce participation, and economic mobility for students in public and charter schools in Buffalo, NY. Say Yes Buffalo utilizes youth apprenticeship opportunities as a critical pathway in their cradle-to-career strategy. With a focus on serving historically underrepresented youth—particularly students of color, Native American students, and those from economically disadvantaged households—they aim to grow career on-ramps that include apprenticeships, direct hire, and other earn and learn pathways by 150 annually by 2030. Say Yes Buffalo is also expanding their industry focus to include culinary arts, healthcare, and skilled trades, with pathways now customized to sector-specific needs. To ensure program quality and equity, they are implementing structured employer training on supporting young talent while developing a sustainability and growth plan to ensure long-term viability.