Ascend Indiana Archives - The Central Indiana Corporate Partnership

Nearly $13 million awarded for statewide career apprenticeship initiative

Courtney Kerr2025-07-09T09:55:23-04:00July 9, 2025|

FuFunds for Indiana Career Apprenticeship Pathway support regional implementation, Industry Talent Associations, and employer and student engagement The Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation has awarded nearly $13 million in funding to eight Indiana organizations working to develop a new pathway for high school and adult students to learn about and train for in-demand careers and help Indiana businesses find and train employees. The first cohort of high school students will begin apprenticeship programs in the new Indiana Career Apprenticeship Pathway (INCAP) in the fall of 2026. They will split their time between the workplace and the classroom, with at least 50% of their training taking place on the job to help ensure they are gaining in-demand skills and employers are realizing a return on investment. The students will be paid by their employers and work year-round. Programs for adults will be available [...]

CICP 2024 Annual Report

Courtney Kerr2025-04-22T13:23:57-04:00April 22, 2025|

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Ascend Indiana Announces Founding Members of Workforce Council

Courtney Kerr2025-03-19T21:39:58-04:00March 19, 2025|

Ascend Indiana, the talent and workforce development initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP), announced today the 10 founding members of the Ascend Indiana Workforce Council. Ascend Indiana launched the Workforce Council earlier this year as a membership-based collaborative that serves as the voice of industry to address Indiana’s persistent gap between available jobs and the Hoosiers prepared to fill them. The Council, comprising business leaders and human resources professionals, is charged with elevating market conditions and identifying emerging industry needs, barriers and successes. The following 10 companies, representing a broad spectrum of industry sectors, have appointed a representative to serve as a member of the Workforce Council’s steering committee, which is responsible for guiding the council’s vision, mission and strategy: CFA Staffing Community Health Network Eli Lilly and Company Henriott Group IU Health Parkview Health PNC Bank [...]

Joyce Irwin Named Vice Chair of the Ascend Indiana Board of Directors

Courtney Kerr2025-03-11T14:40:05-04:00February 26, 2025|

Ascend Indiana, the talent and workforce development initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP), announced today that long-time healthcare executive Joyce Irwin has been named vice chair of the Ascend Indiana Board of Directors. Irwin is president and CEO of Community Health Network Foundation and has served as a member of the Ascend Board of Directors since 2016. Irwin joins Ascend Board Chair, Bridget Boyle, global practice lead – executive recruiting and pipelining at Roche Diagnostics, in leading the 32-member board. “We are excited for Joyce to serve as our vice chair and continue to contribute her expertise to our Board of Directors and our organization. Her deep understanding and experience with healthcare are invaluable as we work to fulfill our mission to ensure all Hoosiers and all employers are equipped to thrive in Indiana’s evolving economy,” said [...]

Marian University’s Saint Joseph’s College students receive free, career and internship support through a new collaboration with Ascend Indiana

Ronnetta Spalding2024-10-08T00:45:23-04:00October 7, 2024|

Indianapolis, IN - Marian University’s Saint Joseph’s College has collaborated with Ascend Indiana to connect more students with high-quality and in-demand career opportunities in Indiana. Ascend, an Indiana nonprofit organization, helps to connect students to internships and careers through the Ascend Network, a web-based platform, that matches a student’s skills and interests with the best Indiana career opportunities. By signing up for the Network, students have access to more than 750 Indiana employers and receive support from an Ascend Indiana Career Mentor. Marian’s Saint Joseph’s College is the state’s only “Earn and Learn” program where students complete work assignments with local employers and learn real-world career training while completing their degree. As a mission-driven institution, the focus is to mentor students to ensure they complete the two-year program and move on to a successful career completing a bachelor's degree [...]

The Indiana Latino Institute collaborates with Ascend Indiana to provide students access to internship search

Ronnetta Spalding2024-09-12T10:49:46-04:00July 22, 2024|

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Indiana Latino Institute (ILI) has formed a collaboration with Ascend Indiana to help connect students to good and promising internship opportunities in Indiana. Ascend, an Indiana nonprofit organization, helps to connect students to internships and careers through the Ascend Network, a web-based platform, that matches a student’s skills and interests with the best Indiana career opportunities. By signing up for the Network, ILI students have access to more than 750 Indiana employers and receive support through the Network from the ILI team. Since its inception in 2016, Ascend has connected more than 5,000 Hoosiers with jobs, internships and training opportunities in all sectors across the state. Founded in 2001, ILI is the state's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for and empowering Indiana's Latino community. With a mission to advance Latino educational attainment and workforce preparedness [...]

Ascend Indiana awards $700,000 to four regional sites to pilot youth apprenticeship programs in local communities

Ronnetta Spalding2024-07-11T00:13:54-04:00July 9, 2024|

INDIANAPOLIS – Ascend Indiana, the talent and workforce development initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP), announced today the award of $175,000 each to four sites to launch youth apprenticeship pilots in their local communities. Funding for these pilot programs comes from the generous support of the Walton Family Foundation and is administered by Ascend Indiana through the CICP Foundation. The four sites, located in Southern, East Central and West Central Indiana, serve 29 counties and include: Eastern Indiana Works (Muncie, Ind.) + East Central Education Service Center (New Castle, Ind.), Southern Indiana Education Center (Jasper, Ind.), Southern Indiana Works (New Albany, Ind.), and West Central Indiana Career and Technical Education Center (Crawfordsville, Ind.). These sites are part of the Indiana Youth Apprenticeship Accelerator, which Ascend launched in 2021 to expand work-based learning programs and to develop a [...]

IIB: The jobs of the future are here. Indiana is getting the workforce ready.

Raquel Bahamonde2024-06-12T08:43:29-04:00June 12, 2024|

Inside INdiana Business Perspectives article by Ascend Indiana President and CEO Brad Rhorer. During my nearly 30 years in the automotive industry, there was one thing that was constant: Change. When I first started on the production floor 32 years ago, automotive component welding was done by hand; today robots are programmed to weld those same components. Processes, technologies and the workforce have evolved over three industrial revolutions, and as Indiana–and the world–continues to march into the fourth (better known as Industry 4.0), we face an all-too-common theme. With new technology comes the need to upskill and reskill our workforce. READ MORE

Ascend Indiana names three industry leaders to its Board of Directors

Raquel Bahamonde2024-05-17T10:09:17-04:00May 17, 2024|

INDIANAPOLIS - Ascend Indiana, the talent and workforce development initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP), announced today three new members to its Board of Directors. Andrew Ball, co-CEO of West Lafayette, Ind.-based Henriott Group, and Teresa Wade, founder and owner of CFA Staffing, have joined the 32-member Ascend Indiana Board of Directors. Additionally, Christy Wilson, vice president of Talent Strategy at The Heritage Group, has been named to replace outgoing board member Kierstin Janik, chief talent officer of Heritage Construction and Materials. “Andrew, Teresa and Christy are exceptional additions to our board and will help expand not only Ascend Indiana’s geographic reach across the state but bring additional voices and perspectives to our talent development work,” said Brad Rhorer, president and CEO of Ascend Indiana. Andrew Ball joined Henriott Group in 2019 and later became co-CEO along with [...]

Ascend Indiana CEO Brad Rhorer talks youth apprenticeships on Capitol Hill

Raquel Bahamonde2024-03-15T11:55:41-04:00March 12, 2024|

Ascend Indiana President and CEO Brad Rhorer was on Capitol Hill this week to speak before the subcommittee for the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Rhorer testified on the value of youth apprenticeship and highlighted the progress Indiana has made in serving youth in apprenticeship experiences. U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper from Colorado chairs the subcommittee and Indiana Senator Mike Braun is a ranking member on the subcommittee. Ascend Indiana is the talent and workforce development initiative of CICP. READ MORE

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