ACE Cleveland’s Summer Career Experience Creates Multiple Pathways for Participants

Community / Youth & Workforce — REAL POWER.TV

ACE Cleveland and Tri-C opened two doors this summer for young people headed into architecture, engineering and construction: one toward college, one straight into the trades.

By Rhonda Crowder & Rich Weiss

With the mission to engage, excite, enlighten and encourage high school students to pursue careers in architecture, engineering, and construction through mentoring and continued support for individual advancement, The ACE Mentor Program of Cleveland – about six years ago – launched The ACE Summer Career Experience. This is an opportunity for a few selected ACE Cleveland participants to focus on building confidence by working with others to develop innovative design ideas for a community-focused project.

The goal: to set them up for greater success in college and their career.

“Ultimately, we’re a career-pathway program seeking to provide more opportunities to bring more young people in our industry,” said Glen Shumate, executive director of ACE Mentor Program of Cleveland.

Because Shumate is always looking for ways to expand opportunities for young people, this summer – through a partnership with Cuyahoga Community College – ACE Cleveland added another component for young people seeking to move right into the workforce. The goal with this opportunity is to offer young people, who do not want to go to college for two to four years, a chance to gain skills and find a pathway in construction.

Designed to set participants up for employment, the classes at Tri-C, allows them to work towards a short-term Construction Operations Certificate, as well as learn AutoDesk/Revit and take Dale Carnegie workshops. The first cohort, who participated this past summer, spent time at the Food Strong Superior Farm as well. They will also shadow/intern with Next Generation and Ozanne Construction companies for work-based experience during the 2026 fall semester.

With that, about 14 ACE Cleveland participants engaged in either the traditional Summer Career Experience or worked to earn a certificate at Tri-C. And, both cohorts received a stipend.

Following ACE Cleveland’s traditional Summer Career Experience model, ACE Cleveland partnered with Food Strong’s Superior Avenue Community Farm (Superior Farm), located at 6527 Superior Ave. The Superior Farm (nearly three acres of formerly vacant farmland at W. 55th St. and Central Ave.), recently donated to Food Strong, is being repurposed as an urban farm and community resource center. The site includes a historic farmhouse and a renovated former church. On one corner of the Superior Farm is a vacant lot that will become a welcoming gateway to draw repeat visitors and the surrounding neighborhood.

The ACE Cleveland participants, on this path, were charged with designing the Green Gateway at Superior Farm to create a community hub for food, nature, art, and neighborhood connections. Food Strong challenged ACE Cleveland participants to develop a conceptual gateway space design (using Autodesk Revit or AutoCAD) for a side-lot parcel on the corner of Superior Ave. and East 67th St., adjacent to Superior Farm.

And, at the end of their six week program, they presented their vision to community leaders, industry professionals, and Food Strong representatives.

Jeanne Wiedt, certified trainer for Dale Carnegie, said, “This summer was very unique. These women are very powerful.” Wiedt forecasted great things in the future for the 2026 ACE Cleveland Summer Career Experience cohort that included about eight young women who will be attending college this fall.

“As they start to encounter different situations or run into people who aren’t always easy to get along with or situations that are very challenging – they’re going to be able to draw from what they’ve learned, and the skill sets they’ve developed, to help them manage,” Wiedt added.

The ACE Cleveland participants proposed sustainable landscape features for the Superior Farm such as a pollinator garden, made up of flowers native to Cleveland to attract bees, butterflies, and birds to support plant pollination and to increase biodiversity. Their proposal also included a rain garden to capture and absorb stormwater, reduce flooding, filter pollutants and improve water quality. All proposed landscaping would be sustainably watered using barrels to collect rainwater from farm roofs, conserve water and reduce runoff.

Additionally they incorporated elements of play into their proposal, including a “Tic-Tac-Toe Stump,” a giant Jenga set, creative and interactive musical instrument art installations, a hands-on garden bed just for kids, a giant “Fun Tube” for crawling through, and a tire swing.

The ACE Cleveland plan also proposed creating a simple, natural oasis that offers visitors a secure place to meet, to help children learn through nature, active learning and healthy habits, and a place to rest in a calming environment. Prioritizing a safe and welcoming environment, they proposed elements, including day/night lighting, exterior cameras, environmental safety, to ensure accessibility and inclusivity.

Finally, ACE Cleveland proposed a community outreach plan to reach high schools, college students, and experienced professionals through Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, Facebook, the Food Strong website, and local news outlets.

During ACE Cleveland’s culminating presentation at Cuyahoga Community College, Rachel Friend, Human Resources Generalist at Turner Construction Company, addressed the long-term benefits her company is seeing from a partnership with the ACE Mentor Program of Cleveland, in general, and from this summer project, specifically.

Turner national, for the last six years, provided a portion of the stipend for summer experience.

“It’s been a really great program for us,” said Friend. “We’re building in Cleveland. So, having people who actually live and work and play in Cleveland is super important to Turner.”

Friend also said, “We want to make sure that we’re grabbing people from the community, giving them the opportunity, letting them be the best and the brightest in the industry. So, the partnership that we’ve had with ACE has been really valuable.”

Friend called out an ACE Cleveland graduate sitting in the presentation audience to demonstrate the program’s larger workforce impact on Turner Construction.

“Diaa Khaled has been a huge success,” said Friend. “Diaa participated in the ACE Mentor Program of Cleveland for two years. From that opportunity, we saw how Diaa was performing, and we brought him on as an intern.”

Friend beamed with pride, “Diaa’s now completed four internship rotations with Turner, and – I should just throw it out there – Diaa is well on his way to receiving a full-time offer from Turner.”

The mission of the ACE Mentor Program of Cleveland is to engage, excite, and enlighten high school students to pursue careers in architecture, construction, and engineering through mentoring and continued support for their advancement into the industry. To learn more about ACE Cleveland visit acecleveland.org or contact Executive Director, Glen Shumate at ace@acecleveland.org