Jobs for America’s Graduates in Iowa Received $250,000 Grant from Apollo Opportunity Foundation
National philanthropic organization aims to deliver continued equity to underserved youth through statewide access to career and academic learning, leadership training, skill-building, wellness.
Des Moines, IOWA (August 12, 2024) – Announced today, Jobs for America’s Graduates in Iowa (iJAG), a statewide nonprofit within the JAG organization, received a $250,000 grant from the Apollo Opportunity Foundation (AOF). The national philanthropic organization aims to deliver continued equity to underserved youth through statewide access to career and academic learning, leadership training, skill-building, and wellness.
“This grant will enable our organization to bring financial resourcing to our public, private, and charter school district partners and therefore open the door for us to serve,” said Dr. Wendy Mihm-Herold, president and CEO of iJAG. “The more students we serve, the more we can help our state reach above-average graduation rates, the more we can close the gap on transitions to continued education, and the more we can help youth become career-ready with future-forward skills to enter the workforce.”
“Career education and workforce development are two of the key pillars underpinning AOF’s mission to expand opportunity. Investing in underserved communities across the country is a critical step for driving economic prosperity,” said Lauren Coape-Arnold, global head of citizenship and executive director of the AOF. “iJAG’s results show they can graduate more students, create pathways to collect, and develop a talent pipeline for the next generation of leaders – AOF’s investment seeks to continue that.”
As part of AOF’s approach, employee engagement is a key driver of the partnership. Starting in August, employees from Apollo Global Management and Athene will partner with iJAG to offer a variety of work-based learning, career readiness, and professional preparedness opportunities for middle school and high school students across the state of Iowa.
“The grant will significantly enhance our goal to provide quality career education to local high school students,” said Dan Jackson, vice president of actuarial product management at Athene and a member of the AOF Grants Council. “I am excited to encourage my Iowa-based colleagues to volunteer their time and skills to support iJAG’s workforce development initiatives.”
“The heart of iJAG lies in empowering young adults to unlock their potential and shape their futures,” said Ashley Prine, wellness partner and fitness trainer at Athene. “I’m excited about the expanded opportunities for employees to volunteer and impact the young adults in our Iowa community on a greater level.”
Iowa is one of 37 state affiliates within the JAG organization. Since 1999, the state has served more than 42,000 young people – one of the largest-serving affiliates in JAG. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds serves as the Chairperson of the JAG Board of Directors.
Apollo Opportunity Foundation (AOF) launched in 2022 to build on Apollo Global Management’s commitment to expanding opportunity across its workplace, marketplace, and the communities where it operates. AOF was launched with $100 million to invest in non-profit organizations working to advance economic prosperity across three key pillars: Career Education, Workforce Development, and Economic Empowerment. Leading with an employee-driven approach, AOF partners with organizations that are championed by Apollo employees to expand opportunity for all.
Apollo Global Management (AGM), Inc. is a high-growth, global alternative asset manager. In our asset management business, we seek to provide our clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum from investment grade to private equity with a focus on three investing strategies: yield, hybrid, and equity. For more than three decades, our investing expertise across our fully integrated platform has served the financial return needs of our clients and provided businesses with innovative capital solutions for growth. Through Athene, our retirement services business, we specialize in helping clients achieve financial security by providing a suite of retirement savings products and acting as a solutions provider to institutions. Our patient, creative, and knowledgeable approach to investing aligns our clients, businesses we invest in, our employees, and the communities we impact, to expand opportunity and achieve positive outcomes. As of December 31, 2023, Apollo had approximately $651 billion of assets under management. To learn more, please visit www.apollo.com.
Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates (iJAG) is a statewide nonprofit 501c3 organization that partners with Iowa school districts to deliver in-school career development programming. This includes leadership training, skill-building, employer engagement, and tailored guidance. Iowa is one of 39 affiliates of Jobs for America’s Graduates, a nationally recognized program model for middle schools and high schools with one-year post-graduation services. Across the state, iJAG just completed serving more than 8,200 students, grades 7-12, across 74 school districts across 50 counties. iJAG graduated 97% of its participants as compared to a 90% graduation rate for non-participants across a five-year span. To learn more, visit iJAG.org.