Jobs for America’s Graduates in Iowa (iJAG), a statewide nonprofit that provides career development within Iowa school districts, announced it received a $250,000 grant from the Apollo Opportunity Foundation. The foundation is the charitable arm of New York-based alternative asset manager Apollo Global Management, which merged with West Des Moines-based Athene in 2022. “This grant will enable our organization to bring financial resourcing to our public, private and charter school district partners and therefore open the door for us to serve,” Wendy Mihm-Herold, president and CEO of iJAG, said in a prepared statement. “The more students we serve, the more we can help our state reach above-average graduation rates, the more we can close the gap on transitions to continued education and the more we can help youth become career-ready with future-forward skills to enter the workforce.” Employees from Apollo and Athene will partner with iJAG to offer work-based learning and career readiness opportunities to Iowa middle school and high school students. Iowa is one of 37 state affiliates of the JAG organization and has served more than 42,000 youths since 1999.