If you want Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP) to win $50,000, give this video a thumbs up now!

Is your organization advancing learning opportunities for adults? Use the hashtag #BeautifulMinds in the comments section with a link to your website, and let us know how your group advances learning opportunities for adults.

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EKCEP, the organization you see in this video, is eligible to win $50,000 from Lumina Foundation’s Beautiful Minds contest. Lumina exists to discover and support adult learning opportunities, including those outside the traditional education system.

The Beautiful Minds contest features three organizations, Complete 2 Compete, EKCEP, and District 1199C Training Fund. Each organization will win money to further its own mission:

► First place wins $50,000
► Second place wins $15,000
► Third place wins $10,000

The contest begins March 23, and voting concludes May 31, and the winner will be announced at the end of June. The video with the best ratio of likes to dislikes wins!

Freethink is proud to host the Beautiful Minds contest featuring the three organizations:
► “36 million Americans have college credits but no degree. Let’s fix that,” featuring Complete 2 Compete. Watch now: https://youtu.be/hSMWzqyB434
► “What's next for coal mining?” featuring EKCEP.
► “The apprenticeship that pays for your college degree,” featuring District 1199C Training Fund. Watch now: https://youtu.be/j9Yg3gXgknI

Watch all of our Beautiful Minds videos, and give a thumbs up to the ones you think deserve funding to further their missions.

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How do we prepare the residents of eastern Kentucky to participate in the global, digital economy now that so many coal jobs are gone?

Addressing the coal employment crisis has fallen to people such as Jeff Whitehead, executive director of the Kentucky Career Center, an organization dedicated to retraining laid off coal industry workers. (The Kentucky Career Center is operated by the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, a foundation that serves residents from 23 Kentucky counties, helping them find and sustain gainful employment.)

“The people we serve are hard-working men and women that have found themselves in transition. They have mortgages. They have kids in school. They can’t put their life on hold for two years,” Whitehead says.

At East Kentucky Advanced Manufacturing Institute, eKAMI for short, students learn how to operate a variety of computer numerical control (CNC) machines, robotic machines that help automate many manufacturing processes.

eKAMI wants to serve as a beacon for manufacturers, helping attract production facilities and manufacturing jobs to the region. If eKAMI can build a sizable skilled workforce, the jobs will soon follow, the thinking goes.

Read the full story here ►► https://www.freethink.com/entr....epreneurship-innovat

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Read more of our stories on restoring jobs:
Rebuilding coal country
►► https://www.freethink.com/cult....ure/rebuilding-coal-
How a bakery is restoring hope in an Appalachian mining town
►► https://www.freethink.com/soci....al-change/appalachia
This Chicago urban farm grows opportunity, jobs
►► https://www.freethink.com/soci....al-change/this-chica

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About Freethink
No politics, no gossip, no cynics. At Freethink, we believe the daily news should inspire people to build a better world. While most media is fueled by toxic politics and negativity, we focus on solutions: the smartest people, the biggest ideas, and the most ground breaking technology shaping our future.
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Watch our original series:
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