PIE Receives $500,000 To Expand Urban Youth Workforce Initiative
Local Nonprofit Sponsors CareerLaunch Program
CINCINNATI (Aug. 19, 2024) — Cincinnati-based nonprofit Partnership for Innovation in Education (PIE) announced it received a combined $500,000 with Ohio’s Industry Sector Partnership (ISP) Grant Program. A total of 22 workforce partnerships across Ohio received $5,065,368.46 through the program. PIE received $250,000 from the Ohio Department of Development, with a duplicate $250,000 match made by Ohio community and industry partners.
Commenting on the value of the ISP program, Ohio Governor DeWine stated: “A strong economy starts with a strong workforce. These industry partnerships are helping Ohioans connect with new career opportunities while ensuring employers have the talent they need to grow and succeed.” (6/3/26)
PIE has served as a designated Industry Sector Partner for Southwest Ohio for five years, receiving fund awards in Rounds 2, 4 and 6. Its education-business-community collaborations provide experiential and capstone programming, classroom integration, educator engagement and student recruitment. Industry partners—including engineering firms, manufacturers, robotics providers and technology companies—validate skill standards, provide work-based learning opportunities and identify emerging workforce needs.
Through CareerLaunch, PIE collaborates with ISP awardees and industry leaders to align technician, operator, electrician and engineering skillsets with Ohio’s highest-demand sectors. PIE also serves on the Automotive & Advanced Mobility Workforce Strategy Steering Committee, contributing directly to statewide workforce planning. Following the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce’s restructuring of industry-recognized credentials, PIE is positioned to support implementation strategies connecting industry needs with classroom delivery.
PIE CEO Mary Welsh Schlueter stated, “We are incredibly honored and excited to receive this funding award. PIE has helped shape industry-recognized credential alignment, pioneered scalable workforce tool kits, strengthened cross-sector coalitions and expanded student access to emerging industries. Through sustained ISP partnerships, PIE is not simply participating in Ohio’s workforce transformation—it is helping define its future.
“CareerLaunch’s long-term vision is to position Southwest Ohio—and ultimately Ohio—as a national model for integrated K–16 workforce development aligned with advanced manufacturing, advanced mobility, artificial intelligence and electrical engineering.
“Our goals are to expand access to industry-aligned credentials and experiential learning, institutionalize credentialing within both Career Technical Education and comprehensive high schools, and create a scalable, employer-informed framework that adapts to emerging workforce trends.”
About Partnership for Innovation in Education (PIE)
Established in 2009 and headquartered in Cincinnati, Partnership for Innovation in Education (PIE) develops educational and industry skill-certification tools that prepare students for the 21st-century workforce. As a career readiness, talent pipeline and statewide workforce development partner with the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce and Ohio Department of Higher Education, PIE provides career simulation, industry credentialing, mentoring and in-demand, high quality job partnerships connecting business, education and community organizations.
PIE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Candid Platinum-ranked organization and Ohio School District State Partner and Contractor. In SW Ohio, PIE is the Fiscal Agent and Director of the Cincinnati Public School 21st Century Community Learning Center at Aiken New Tech High School, and the PIE CEO sits on the CPS Business Advisory Council.
Since 2022, PIE has launched the K–16 DriveOhio Tool Kit (2024), Campus Collections Advanced Mobility Tool Kit (2025), FormulatE® Electric Vehicle Engineering & Manufacturing Tool Kit (2025), AutomatE Delivery Robot Systems (2026) and SimulatE Capstones (2026). Distributed statewide, these immersive systems are accessible to 75,000 educators and 1.6 million students.
For more information, visit https://piemedia.org.
Follow Partnership for Innovation in Education on Facebook, PIE: Partnership for Innovation in Education on LinkedIn, and @PIE_Innovation on X.
About Industry Sector Partnerships
Industry Sector Partnerships bring together employers, education and training providers, workforce organizations and community leaders to address regional workforce needs. Grants support new and existing partnerships working to strengthen local talent pipelines across Ohio. Since 2019, Ohio has invested $22.7 million in 121 Industry Sector Partnerships representing 77 unique organizations.
Learn more about the ISP Program at:
https://workforce.ohio.gov/initiatives/initiatives/isp/