Local Group Gets a Grant to Launch HUSTLE Academy

Ashley Kinamore knows what it means to hustle. “We always are coming up with new programs to meet the needs of the community,” Kinamore said. As the education director of High Achievers Aim High, she and her fellow co-founders have launched six programs that focus on minority children and equity. That's all in the last four years. And now, thanks to a grant, they'll launch the HUSTLE Academy or Helping Usher Students Toward Leadership and Entrepreneurship. The program partners 10 Cincinnati Black high schoolers with a paid internship with a black business owner. “So it’s big, big big,” Kinamore said. “We are so excited. It’s our first big grant.” The Academy is set up to provide leadership training and an entrepreneurship program. Students will work with MORTAR, a local entrepreneurship academy for marginalized entrepreneurs.