Generous Gift Supports Arts-Based Job Training and College Readiness Program for Youth

CLEVELAND (November 5, 2021) - Center for Arts-Inspired Learning, a nonprofit organization based in Cleveland, serving youth in grades preK-12 throughout Northeast Ohio, is proud to announce that Knorr-Bremse Global Care North America Inc. (KBGCNA) has granted $50,000 to support the organization’s longest running program, ArtWorks.ArtWorks is an arts-based job training and college readiness program for Northeast Ohio’s 10th, 11th, and 12th grade scholars. Scholars are enrolled as paid apprentices to train under the guidance of master teaching artists, who mentor them in an art form while teaching them 21st century skills.This grant award marks the second year of partnership between Center for Arts-Inspired Learning and KBGCNA.Sheffia Dooley, CEO & President of Center for Arts-Inspired Learning, states, “We are honored and grateful to partner with a global company with such dedication to helping the community. The grant award from Knorr-Bremse Global Care North America will provide pathways to success for our apprentices enrolled in ArtWorks.”Anthony Ania, assistant general counsel at Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC, is a CAL board member and a KBGCNA officer. He serves as project champion for the grant, helping to facilitate the foundation’s support. According to Ania, “This program opens doors for these young adults, and it’s well beyond arts education. It teaches them confidence, it brings them together, and gives them the skills they need to succeed later in life, whether that’s in the arts, or whether that’s anything else that they might decide to do.”KBGCNA is an independent organization operating as the North American arm of a global nonprofit organization – Knorr-Bremse Global Care. The foundation’s investments are centered in the surrounding communities of Munich, Germany-based Knorr Bremse’s three largest North American companies: Avon, Ohio-based Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC; Westminster, Maryland-based Knorr Brake Company; and Watertown, New York-based New York Air Brake LLC.Center for Arts-Inspired Learning has been igniting student learning, creativity, and success through the arts since 1953.