Ascend Indiana, the talent and workforce development initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP), has announced awards of $115,000 each to bolster three regional youth apprenticeship efforts in Indiana. Through generous support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Ascend is working alongside the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA) at New America to provide financial and technical support through the Indiana Youth Apprenticeship Accelerator (Accelerator) initiative. PAYA is a national consortium of organizations supporting states and cities in their efforts to expand access to high-quality apprenticeship opportunities for high school-aged youth.
Ascend will provide seed funding and technical assistance to Regional Opportunity Initiatives, Inc. (Indiana Uplands), OptIN/Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation Foundation (Southern Indiana), and Hamilton County Center for Career Achievement (Hamilton County) to advance a high-quality and scalable youth apprenticeship system in the state. These awardeeswill join current pilot efforts underway through Central Indiana Modern Apprenticeship (led by EmployIndy) and CareerWise Elkhart County (led by Horizon Education Alliance) to build on this momentum and establish a connected youth apprenticeship network in the state.
“Ascend is extremely grateful to Bloomberg Philanthropies for their support of the Youth Apprenticeship Accelerator, which launched in June to develop a coordinated ecosystem that provides all students across the state, in both urban and rural areas, with additional opportunities to obtain necessary skills for today’s workforce,” said Jason Kloth, president and CEO of Ascend Indiana. “Through awards to regions including Southern Indiana, Indiana Uplands, and Central Indiana, Ascend seeks to strengthen the connections between students and employers in order to build a robust talent pipeline to meet local hiring needs.”
Throughout the country and in Indiana, youth apprenticeships are gaining momentum as a postsecondary option for young people that provides them with the foundational skills, experiences, and credentials they need to thrive in a rapidly changing economy. Youth apprentices start in their junior year of high school and complete a 2-3 year program to prepare for in-demand careers in industries including information technology, financial services, healthcare and advanced manufacturing. Through a combination of classroom learning and paid, on-the-job training under the mentorship of a skilled employee, students earn their high school diplomas and industry-recognized credentials. They can also get postsecondary credits aligned to degree programs, which enable them to launch a career, pursue further higher education, or both.
Awardees will serve as intermediaries, receiving a combination of funding and technical assistance through September 2022 to support the launch or expansion of a youth apprenticeship pilot program in their region. In addition, awardees will work closely with national and state experts – including The Governor’s Workforce Cabinet, the Office of Work-Based Learning and Apprenticeship, the Indiana Department of Education, and the Commission for Higher Education – as well as learn alongside other regions that are designing and implementing these experiences. Ultimately, the Accelerator aims to enhance regional economies by developing postsecondary career pathways for youth and in-demand talent pipelines needed by employers. This network of youth apprenticeship pilots will lead hundreds of Indiana students to begin apprenticeships by the end of 2022.
“Through the generosity of Ascend Indiana and PAYA, we will be able to create comprehensive work-based learning pathways that will provide students the opportunity to earn high school credit, college credit and stackable credentials,” said Carrie Lively, executive director of the Hamilton County Center for Career Achievement. “Students who complete these programs will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to successfully transition onto post-secondary and into the workforce with the ability to succeed.”
