FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Hello@pursuit.org
(929)798-2916
NEW YORK, NY
May 8, 2026
Pursuit today announced a $4 million, three-year grant from Ascendium Education Group to build and scale AI career pathways through the AI Jobs Institute. The grant, running from June 2026 through May 2029, is a substantial programmatic investment in the Institute, marking a significant milestone in Pursuit's mission to connect low-income New Yorkers to high-quality careers in the AI economy.
The AI Jobs Institute is a public-private partnership launching in Long Island City, Queens, in 2027, supported by capital grants from New York City and State. The Institute will serve as one of the nation's first AI-focused workforce hubs — a place where adults from underrepresented communities gain the skills and employer connections needed to thrive in the fastest-growing careers of our time.
Across every industry, employers are actively seeking AI-ready workers and building new hiring pipelines to find them. Workers with AI skills earn a 56% wage premium over peers without them — a figure that doubled in just one year, according to PwC's 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer. Yet the infrastructure to train and place that talent at scale — especially from underrepresented communities — is still being built. The AI Jobs Institute is Pursuit's answer to that challenge, and Ascendium's partnership accelerates its development at a critical moment.
Ascendium's investment will enable three core areas:
01. Scaling AI-Native Training
600+ low-income New Yorkers will enroll in Pursuit's AI-native pre-apprenticeship program — an in-person, multi-level curriculum building the technical mastery, problem-solving skills, and real-world experience employers are looking for.
02. Creating New AI Career Pathways
Pursuit will develop and refine multiple entry points and career progression routes — including Forward-Deployed Engineer roles, where trainees work directly with small businesses and nonprofits on real AI projects — giving learners verified portfolios and direct pipelines to employer hiring.
03. Launching Pioneering AI Registered Apprenticeship Models
Building on its role as the first NYSDOL-registered Group Sponsor for Software Development apprenticeships, Pursuit will design and create a new non-sectoral AI Registered Apprenticeship — creating a scalable, standards-based model that employers and training providers across the state can adopt.
At the heart of this partnership is a simple goal: good jobs. Pursuit's model has consistently helped low-income New Yorkers reach average salaries of $94,000 after placement — up from approximately $18,000 before training — with an 88% three-year job retention rate. Pursuit's employer network includes Blackstone, Citizens, and JPMorgan Chase, and coalitions including the Partnership for New York City, Tech:NYC, and the NY Jobs CEO Council, collectively representing over one million quality jobs across New York City. Through the AI Jobs Institute, Pursuit will continue to co-design AI-aligned roles and hiring criteria directly with these partners — ensuring that what trainees learn maps directly to where employers are hiring.
Pursuit is a New York City–based nonprofit that creates pathways to economic mobility by training adults with the greatest need and potential for AI-enabled careers. Since 2012, Pursuit has invested in individuals from low-income communities—70% Black or Latine, 50% receiving public assistance, 60% without four-year degrees, and 40% immigrants—to prepare them for the jobs of the future. To date, Pursuit has generated more than $1 billion in lifetime wage gains for program participants by partnering with employers, community organizations, and public leaders to deliver AI-native training that leads directly to real jobs and sustained wage growth.
Ascendium Education Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to helping people reach the education and career goals that matter to them. Ascendium invests in initiatives designed to increase the number of learners from low-income backgrounds who complete postsecondary degrees, certificates and workforce training programs, with an emphasis on first-generation learners, incarcerated adults, rural community members, learners of color and veterans. Ascendium's work identifies, validates and expands best practices to promote large-scale change at the institutional, system and state levels, with the intention of elevating opportunity for all. For more information, visit ascendiumphilanthropy.org.