Career Ready Grant
About the Career Ready Grant Program
Don Wood believed in the power of education and envisioned the Foundation as a vehicle for student achievement. In honor of Don’s vision, the Don Wood Foundation is proud to invest in enhancing partnerships between Career and Technical Education (CTE) Districts, K-12 institutions, nonprofit organizations, higher education institutions, and employers to plan and implement programs that provide opportunities for high school students in northeast Indiana.
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DWF may invest up to $5 million in the CTE Career Ready Grant Program over a five-year period. The Foundation will evaluate the effectiveness of this investment based on the following outcomes:
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Discovering new solutions and innovative practices to advance student outcomes in a rapidly changing environment
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Discovering new approaches to retool and sustain highly effective programs with a demonstrated record of strong student outcomes
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Fostering a spirit of collaboration among educators and industry partners to achieve shared, mutually beneficial outcomes
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Promoting peer learning and engagement among participating organizations and practitioners
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Representing regionally and making an impact across northeast Indiana
Why the Career Ready Grant Program?
The CTE Career Ready Grant Program is a direct response to recent changes in Indiana state education legislation, new high school graduation requirements, the growing demand for scalable, high-quality Work-Based Learning (WBL) experiences, and the Foundation’s recent research concerning the changing landscape of postsecondary attainment and career and technical education. These shifts have created an urgent need for collaborative, student-centered solutions that bridge the gap between education and workforce readiness. Through the CTE Career Ready Grant Program, the Don Wood Foundation will support the development of a future-ready talent pipeline by funding programs that empower students, strengthen communities, and fuel economic growth across northeast Indiana.
Who is eligible?
The lead applicant must be a school or nonprofit organization with a 501(c)3 designation from the Internal Revenue Service, and may include:
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Public or private K-12 schools
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Career and Technical Education Districts
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Nonprofit organizations
Requests driven by partnerships among three or more organizations, including K-12 schools, CTE districts, nonprofit organizations, higher education institutions, and/or industry partners, will be prioritized.
Eligible grant seekers must primarily serve high school CTE students who reside in the following counties of northeast Indiana: Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Grant, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells, and Whitley.
