Ember Forest trains people who have gone through recovery, veterans, single parents, career changers, and more for real tech careers — through a paid, multi-year pathway that starts with one cohort and ends with a job offer. Rising Phoenix is where that pathway does its heaviest work.
Every person who comes through Ember Forest moves through the same arc — from a first spark of interest to a paid, permanent career. Rising Phoenix is stage three, and the one most people spend the longest inside.
Adult workshops — the first exposure to tech, before it's a career decision.
A 12 week micro cohort readiness phase — Gives participants a taste of the full program.
The 12-month paid cohort program — technical training, case management, and a Community Impact requirement, cohort-based throughout. Additionally participants will be educated in financial literacy, professional development, and culture appreciation.
A 12-month paid apprenticeship with a partner organization, with a permanent job offer at the end and a standing invitation to the alumni mentoring group membership.
Not a phase you enroll in — the outcome we're building toward. A graduate, employed, stable, and often teaching where they started.
Twelve months of technical training and case-managed support, followed by two structured phases that turn training into a livelihood.
Full-time, paid enrollment for the 12-month core program for all participants in the cohort, followed directly by a 3-month internship and a 12-month paid apprenticeship — nearly two years of paid runway before the job offer.
Pre-entry checks across five readiness areas — financial literacy, digital literacy, professionalism, and housing and health stability — ending in a cohort presentation and track selection.
Weekly technical coursework paired with a standing Personal Life Management case-management block, so training doesn't stall out over a housing or benefits issue.
Every Ember Team completes a Wellness project and an Educational project each quarter throughout the year, presented at graduation alongside a 90-day post-graduation plan.
A 3-month placement with Ember Forest itself, our Ember Simulation practice environment, or a partner nonprofit.
A 12-month paid apprenticeship with a partner organization, with continuing weekly classes and a requirement to teach or guest-speak in the youth and readiness programs — ending in a permanent offer.
Five acres in the Kentucky foothills, planned to be built out gradually and mostly by the people who train here.
Our main training and gathering space — planned to start building in 2028 to run partly off-grid, and doubling as the venue for community events and graduation ceremonies.
Original structures on the property, planning to be restored rather than replaced, will be used for housing, small-group instruction, and staff offices now and in the future.
Enough ground for the Community Impact projects — tree planting, gardens — to be more than symbolic, and for participants to have somewhere quiet between sessions.
Every Ember Team — the small cohort groups Rising Phoenix trains in — completes two kinds of project each quarter, not just whichever is easier.
Free weekend STEM camps, offered at every high school in the region — the entry point for kids who'll one day apply to Igniting Embers themselves.
Enrich pairs meaningful employment with case management, housing navigation, and stability services for people rebuilding after addiction, homelessness, or incarceration — work Enrich itself describes as serving people with an "alternative resume." Their One-Stop Resource Hub is a standing referral point for Rising Phoenix participants who need life-management support beyond what the campus provides directly, and their model of continued post-employment support shapes how we plan each cohort's final 90 days.
Cohorts for Rising Phoenix open twice a year. Applications for youth camps, internships, and community partnerships stay open year-round.