CareerReady ATL Grant Opportunity

Nonprofit Organizations are Invited to Apply for Youth Apprenticeship Request for Proposals!

Current Funding Opportunity

United Way of Greater Atlanta is requesting proposals from nonprofit organizations serving in-school or out-of-school youth ages 16-24 throughout 13-County region developing youth apprenticeship programs.

Purpose of this RFP

The purpose of CareerReady ATL is to establish a system for youth apprenticeships that will expand and sustain opportunities for Black, Hispanic, and other youth of color who are the least likely to have access to them in the Greater Atlanta area. The United Way of Greater Atlanta (UWGA) established CareerReady ATL in accordance with their investment goal for College and Career Ready, which aims to enhance the college and career readiness of 15,000 youth.

As a system, our goal is to influence the creation of 4,000 high-quality youth apprenticeship opportunities within the Greater Atlanta region by 2027. United Way will directly fund the creation of 1,350 high-quality Youth Apprenticeships.

UWGA believes in Youth Apprenticeship as a powerful racial equity strategy because it:

  1. Increases access to in-demand, high wage careers
  2. Provides real work experience that builds professional and technical skills
  3. Enables youth access to industry-recognized credentials or degrees without taking on debt
  4. Allows youth to “earn while they learn” so that they can provide for themselves and their families
  5. Provides access to social capital by connecting youth to an employer, adult mentors, and colleagues in their field of interest

Priority given to organizations that do the following:

CareerReady ATL prioritizes the development of pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs aligned to occupations that are in-demand and provide a pathway to a “living wage” career with opportunities for wage growth and mobility. The target for starting wages is about $17/hr - $31/hr based on MIT wage calculator.

CareerReady ATL is focused on high-demand industries in the Greater Atlanta region, especially:

  • Construction
  • Film, media and entertainment
  • Healthcare
  • Information Technology
  • Manufacturing
  • Transportation, distribution and logistics

CareerReady ATL is committed to building an equitable economy and diverse talent pipelines for Atlanta’s employers. As such, we are focused on youth that meet the following criteria:

  • Black, Hispanic, and other youth of color furthest from opportunity, ages 16-24
  • In-school (rising Junior or Senior) and out-of-school youth

“Furthest from Opportunity” includes youth who are:

  • Low-income
  • In foster care or formerly in foster care
  • Incarcerated or formerly incarcerated
  • LGBTQ+
  • First-generation Americans
  • Young parents
  • Opportunity Youth (disconnected from school or the workforce)

Applicants that can demonstrate their alignment to these areas of focus will be more competitive applicants. Please reference the RFP for more information.

Award Information

Learn more about the CareerReady ATL application:

  • The grant period is May 2023 – April 2024. Grants will be awarded to organizations who provide programming and support services to support Youth Apprenticeship programs in -Greater Atlanta region.
  • Development grant award will be up to $25K to $50K per organization. We anticipate awarding 1-3 organizations.
  • Implementation grant award will be up to $50K to $150K per organization. We anticipate awarding 1-3 organizations.
  • Grant applicant orientation sessions will be on February 14th at  2:00pm and  February 16th at 9:00am.

The orientation session recording will be posted to this page on February 15, 2023.

  • Eligibility Assessment open February 14, 2023
  • Applications open February 27, 2023
  • Deadline to apply is April 7, 2023
  • Details about the CareerReady ATL awards can be found in the RFP.

Questions? Contact CareerReadyATL@unitedwayatlanta.org

Minimum Requirements

Organizations across the Greater Atlanta region that are developing or implementing pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship opportunities for youth, ages 16-24, who also meet at least one or more of the following criteria:

  1. Serving youth of color living in a low-income household
  2. Serving Opportunity Youth (i.e., disconnected from school or the workforce)
  3. Applicants are also encouraged to support youth “furthest from opportunity” as outlined above
  4. Organizations must agree to provide wraparound services or collaborate with other organization(s) to address immediate and basic needs for young people e.g., food, housing/shelter, clothing, transportation, financial coaching, and childcare supports. As part of CareerReady ATL’s wraparound support model, we are currently building capacity in this area and identifying case managers that can support apprentices if program implementation grantees do not already provide these support services.

Guidance on a Successful Application

  • Competitive applicants will demonstrate alignment to the youth, geographic, industry and occupation focus areas outlined in the RFP.
  • Applicants with existing employer connections will be stronger applicants, and those without current employer connections will need to demonstrate clear strategies for recruitment
  • While CareerReady ATL values both pre-apprenticeship and youth apprenticeship programs; applicants applying to build or implement youth apprenticeship programs will be prioritized during the 2023 RFP process.

Read more about the grant requirements in the RFP.

Timeline

  • Eligibility Process –2/14/23 – 2/22/23
  • Informational webinars – 2/14/23 and 2/16/23
  • Application – 2/27/23 – 4/7/23
  • Review Process – 4/17/23 – 4/28/23
  • Grant notification – May 2023