June 10, 2026
With support from JFF, Educate Maine builds and scales pre-apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship programs, with the goal of bringing apprenticeship to people in every region of the state.
Educate Maine is a statewide business-led nonprofit that works to expand access to education and high-quality experiential learning opportunities. The organization leverages its statewide network to bring together stakeholders, including educators, employers, and workforce development leaders, to design and scale career-connected learning opportunities, advance data-informed practices, and manage workforce and education programs.
In 2021, Educate Maine expanded its efforts to include support for pre-apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship programs. The organization committed to integrating apprenticeship into its experiential learning portfolio to address converging needs of employers facing persistent workforce shortages, young people seeking clearer paid pathways into meaningful careers, and career and technical education (CTE) partners looking to expand high-quality work-based learning. With its statewide portfolio of education-to-employment programs and its strong cross-sector relationships, Educate Maine was well-positioned to coordinate and scale earn-and-learn opportunities as a trusted state apprenticeship intermediary.
Jobs for the Future (JFF) has supported Educate Maine in its efforts to build and scale apprenticeships across the state since 2021, providing the organization with grant funding, technical assistance, coaching, and implementation support and creating opportunities to explore promising apprenticeship practices through a national network of apprenticeship providers. This support began with collaboration through JFF’s Apprenticeship Expansion and Modernization Fund contract and has been deepened and expanded through JFF’s Apprenticeship Building America (ABA) grant.
As a sub-grantee of the ABA initiative, Educate Maine has strengthened its role as an apprenticeship intermediary and has scaled pre-apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship initiatives. These efforts have included expanding apprenticeship into new industries and sectors, helping small employers set up apprenticeship programs, bringing programs to rural communities and remote regions of the state, increasing collaboration and engagement with CTE programs, and creating new opportunities for youth and young adults to participate in apprenticeships.
As of March 2026, JFF’s collaboration with Educate Maine has yielded the following results:
To become a state-approved intermediary, Educate Maine built on its long-standing role as a trusted convener, advocate, and resource for educators, employers, workforce development leaders and other apprenticeship stakeholders. These partnerships put the organization in a strong position to play the role of intermediary and build alignment among multiple stakeholders. Additionally, Educate Maine built its capacity by adding staff members with apprenticeship expertise and learning the operational ins and outs of Registered Apprenticeship.
Educate Maine was officially designated as an apprenticeship intermediary by the Maine Department of Labor in 2023 and has been represented on the Maine Apprenticeship Council since 2025. The organization used this formalized role to improve coordination among partners who might not otherwise work together, promote apprenticeship to new groups of stakeholders, and streamline program creation and expansion efforts across regions. It tapped into existing partnerships with other education and workforce programs, state agencies, and industry leaders to build talent pipelines, making it easy for state officials to directly connect employers and other partners to Educate Maine, thus accelerating coordination and reducing duplication.
From this foundation, Educate Maine embraced three main strategies that define its approach:
Educate Maine developed a needs assessment tool to identify the types of supports—such as access to transportation, housing, and work clothing, and tools—that would help participants overcome barriers limiting their ability to participate in apprenticeships. To expand access to those supports, the organization tapped its network of partners to provide apprentices with referrals to services available through WIOA programs and other nonprofits. Additionally, it coordinated peer networking and communication channels to support current and future participants in navigating apprenticeship pathways, and it offered employers training on how to best work with and support young people. This included building a strong relationship with the Catherine Cutler Institute at the University of Southern Maine to offer training programs centered on trauma-informed practices and positive youth development and mentorship.
Many of the businesses participating in these programs are small, capable of accommodating only one or two apprentices at a time, and Educate Maine makes an intentional effort to meet their unique needs. The organization has found that small employers respond to routine, not pressure, and that regular check-ins are the most effective way to ensure that programs are running smoothly and meeting expectations. One partner said Educate Maine staffers spend much of their time “educating, re-educating, and continually educating” mentors, apprentices, schools, and industry and community organizations. This includes setting up presentations in which former apprenticeship participants reflect on their experiences to show young people that apprenticeship is a realistic pathway and help employers understand how to work effectively with youth.
Educate Maine’s approach to apprenticeship reflects the fact that Maine is a largely rural state. The organization and its partners have learned that flexibility is essential to addressing physical and technological challenges in order to design and implement quality programs in this setting—including developing hybrid programs with a mix of remote and in-person learning. Staff make an effort to build the trust needed for successful collaborations by traveling across the state to meet with partners in person, and Educate Maine has adopted an approach based on the response to intervention (RTI) framework to identify and support apprentices who may be facing challenges.
Educate Maine’s work across the state has helped drive important outcomes for youth and young adults, employers, and the state’s apprenticeship ecosystem as a whole. Its efforts to raise the profile of apprenticeship and strengthen connections between K-12 and Registered Apprenticeship pathways have helped young people across Maine become aware of a broader array of career opportunities. And they’re becoming aware of those career possibilities at an earlier age—students as young as 16 are gaining work experience, developing important durable and technical skills, and moving toward long-term economic stability. In some cases, young people have achieved major life milestones, such as buying a house, while continuing to advance along their career pathways. Educate Maine’s workforce team has also assumed sponsorship of the Shellfish & Seaweed Aquaculture Technician Registered Apprenticeship and has helped that initiative grow by building stronger pipelines between it and pre-apprenticeship programs like their own Aquaculture Pioneers program.
Educate Maine’s intentional and robust approach to employer engagement and support has expanded participation in apprenticeship and scaled this proven model to new industries and sectors. Employers have reported that the strong guidance Educate Maine provides makes implementing apprenticeships more manageable. Small and midsize businesses, in particular, have said they’ve benefited from Educate Maine’s structured support and ongoing guidance, which has improved their capacity to offer apprenticeships and hire and retain apprentices who complete their programs. Employer referrals now drive apprenticeship growth, reflecting the mutual trust and value of Educate Maine’s role.
At the ecosystem level, Educate Maine has deepened and strengthened coordination across education, workforce, and industry, helping to bridge pathways, align training, and ensure that programs meet the needs of all involved. The organization has been instrumental in increasing and expanding the role of career and technical education programs in the state, and it has helped establish clearer and more consistent pathways for students.
Becoming an apprenticeship intermediary takes time. Educate Maine’s path to assuming the role of apprenticeship intermediary unfolded over several years as the organization carefully analyzed the state’s needs, ensured alignment with its existing work, and built the knowledge, expertise, and capacity to do the job effectively.
Statewide coordination requires sustained investment in relationship-building. Trust across employers, educators, and state partners makes coordination possible, fosters buy-in and engagement and allows programs to scale.
Small employers benefit from structure and routine, not pressure. Regular check-ins and clear expectations make apprenticeship manageable and more likely to stick.
Flexibility is essential in rural regions. In-person engagement and models that adapt to the needs of the community and local residents are key to building trust and ensuring programs can operate across regions.
Youth success depends on removing barriers early. Coordinating delivery of supports improves access to and persistence in apprenticeships. Educate Maine has developed a robust intake process to assess the needs of young people as they enroll and ensure that participants are meaningfully connected to the supports they need. Educate Maine staffers regularly check in with apprentices throughout their training to offer ongoing support and guidance.
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