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Ignite Your Future

Empowering and supporting students with real-world career experiences.

Is the future uncertain?

IgnitingTalent can help.

IgnitingTalent is a career-readiness program designed for high school juniors and seniors, offering hands-on micro-internships to help students explore their future and a wide variety of career paths. By partnering with local businesses (Career Launchers) and Educators, IgnitingTalent provides real-world experiences that empower students to discover their passions and build essential skills whether they are going to college right after high school or starting their career.

Targeting students, Career Launchers, and Educators , IgnitingTalent bridges the gap between education and the professional world, fostering meaningful connections and creating a supportive environment for future career success and fulfillment.

Dante using a microscope

What are micro-internships?

Micro-internships are short, internships, one to two weeks long, that offer students a glimpse into various professions, helping them gain real-world experience.

Who We Serve

A student working underneath a car on a lift.

Students

Students gain hands-on experience and explore different career paths through our micro-internship opportunities.

A student wearing scrubs in a surgery room.

Businesses

Businesses (Career Launchers) engage with young talent (and future employees?!) by providing hands-on and real-world  experience.

A student sitting next to a teacher.

Schools

IgnitingTalent provides Educators with an impactful resource to guide students who are unsure of what their future could look like.

See What People Are Saying

"IgnitingTalent has been a tremendous resource for our Capstone Project. It has provided our students with hands-on experience and consistent support and direction by Mary, which has helped them secure soft skills as well as hard skills in life."

Jen Tzetzo No BG Resized
Jen Tzetzo, Capstone Coordinator & World Language Department Leader

"IgnitingTalent provides unique and exciting opportunities for interns and businesses that not only allow the interns to learn about and experience a variety of careers, but also allows the businesses to engage with the interns and benefit from their experience."

Ana Robles Resized No BG
Ana Robles, Case Manager, Advanced Investigations, LLC

"Participating in IgnitingTalent allowed me to get outside of my comfort zone and it gave me a great opportunity to get out and explore the world."

 

Dante Rodney Resized No BG
Dante Rodney, Student

Where students have interned

Advanced Investigations Logo
Guilford Texaco North Logo
Baybrook Remodelers, INC Logo
BELC Logo
West Shore Fire District Logo
Shoreline Wellness Center Logo
Guilford Animal Medical Center Logo
Forte The Brand Logo
The Curly Hair Salon Logo
Baybrook Grooming, Ruff Cuts Dog Grooming Logo

Facts and Figures

96% 

Completion Rate 

 

23 

Career Fields Explored 

 

28

Career Launchers

 

50%

2024 Grads Awarded $1000 Scholarship

About the JoeAbate Charitable Foundation

JoeAbate Charitable Foundation LogoIgnitingTalent is a program of the JoeAbate Charitable Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in loving memory of Joe Abate—a devoted husband, father, son, and friend whose spirit lives on in the hearts of all who knew him. Born with a ventricular septal defect (VSD) – a birth defect of the heart, Joe passed away at the age of 37 from cardiopulmonary arrest, leaving behind his wife Meghan and five-month-old daughter Vienna.

During his short time with us, Joe made a profound impact on countless lives with his kind soul, infectious good nature, unshakable faith, and deep respect for others. He was a friend to everyone he met, and many young people who knew Joe saw him as a mentor who genuinely made a difference in their lives—someone who inspired positive change. Motivated by this, Joe’s wife, Meghan, founded the JoeAbate Charitable Foundation to ensure his legacy of kindness and generosity continues.

Beyond IgnitingTalent, our career-readiness program for high school juniors and seniors who are uncertain about their post-high school plans, the Foundation also oversees the Family Resources Fund. This fund provides both emotional and financial support to families of children with congenital heart disease, in partnership with Yale New Haven Hospital’s Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. We also support the CTHeart Camp, a traditional summer camp designed specifically for children with congenital heart disease.


Joe’s life continues to inspire us, and we are committed to not only preserving his legacy, but expanding its reach and deepening its impact with each passing year.

Get to know us.

In the News: IgnitingTalent in Action

See how our program is making headlines and impacting the community.

Channel 61 - Meghan Abate Snippet

Connecting People with Opportunities

Watch the 7:30AM report with Meghan Abate featured on Channel 61.

Watch the Segment
Channel 61 - Dante Rodney Snippet

High School Students Kick-Starting Careers

Watch the 8:30 AM report with Intern Dante and Career Launcher Jimmy featured on Channel 61.

Watch the Segment
Student reading to a child at the Branford Early Learning Center

The Missing Link

Micro internships gives high schoolers wide range of front-line work experience.

Read the Article
Trevor Green standing next to his mentor at Guilford Texaco.

Helping Youths Find Passion

IgnitingTalent shows kids how lucrative and rewarding a blue collar profession can be.

Read the Article

Contact Us

We invite you to reach out to ask questions and get more information!

  • 106 Doral Farms Rd, North Branford, CT 06471

  • info@ignitingtalent.org

  • (678) 243-8338