LEAD TRAINING AWARDED $500,000 FROM ONEOHIO TO STRENGTHEN ADDICTION PREVENTION, TREATMENT, RECOVERY, AND COMMUNITY RESILIENCE
LEAD Will Create High School Student Career Pathway Impact Across Nine School Districts in Hamilton County with OneOhio’s Support
CINCINNATI, OH – September 17, 2026 – LEAD Training, a growing Cincinnati-based nonprofit that helps primary and secondary students build life and career skills, has received $500,000 in grant funding from OneOhio Recovery Foundation to support its community resilience initiatives. The grant from the OneOhio Recovery Foundation will come to life as Prevention to Profession: Youth Pathways in Behavioral Health, a 24-month project designed to address two interconnected challenges: preventing youth substance use and strengthening the region’s behavioral health workforce. The program will prepare high school juniors and seniors for entry-level behavioral health employment and longer-term education and licensure pathways through credentialing, career coaching, work-based learning, and pre-apprenticeships. The initiative will be led by LEAD Training in partnership with Talbert House and the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, with participation from these Hamilton County school districts: Deer Park, Reading, Winton Woods, Princeton, Norwood, Lockland, Forest Hills, North College Hill and Cincinnati Public Schools. Regional healthcare and behavioral health employers will provide career exposure, mini-internships, and employment pathways, while the University of Cincinnati will serve as an independent evaluator.
“The model is intended to create a locally rooted pipeline of young people entering prevention, treatment, recovery, and behavioral health careers while simultaneously strengthening protective factors for participating students,” noted Riley O’Grady, Founder & Executive Director, LEAD Training. The grant is part of a $45.7 million regional grant funding opportunity awarded by the OneOhio Recovery Foundation as part of its mission to strengthen addiction prevention, treatment, recovery, and community resilience across Ohio. This is the second round of regional grants distributed by the Foundation. The grant funding comes from 55% of the funds the state is receiving from the pharmaceutical industry because of its role in the national opioid epidemic.
The grant awarded to LEAD Training reflects the Foundation's commitment to supporting organizations on the front lines of addressing substance use disorder. These investments strengthen community-driven prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts that help build healthier, more resilient communities across Ohio. “LEAD Training is an example of the dedicated, high-quality organizations working across Ohio every day to help individuals, families, and communities impacted by substance use disorder”, said Alisha Nelson, Executive Director of the OneOhio Recovery Foundation. “These new grant awards build on the momentum of our first cycle and represents another powerful opportunity for Ohioans to come together and create lasting change,” Ms. Nelson said. “With these investments, we can expand hope, strengthen recovery, and equip our local organizations on the frontlines with the tools they need to help more individuals and families heal.”
LEAD Training and all other grant recipients are selected through a rigorous, locally driven review process that prioritizes evidence-informed strategies to address substance use disorder. Regional volunteers, the OneOhio Expert Panel, and the Foundation's Board of Directors work together to ensure funding decisions reflect community needs while maintaining transparency and accountability.
This second grant cycle builds on the success of the Foundation’s inaugural grant cycle, which awarded more than $45 million over 240 projects across Ohio. These investments supported a wide range of evidence-informed initiatives, including youth prevention programs, school-based mental health services, recovery housing, treatment expansion, post-overdose reach, and behavioral health workforce development.
A complete list of Regional Grant Cycle 2 recipients can be found here.
Organizations and groups interested in future funding opportunities can visit https://www.oneohiofoundation.com to learn more and sign up to receive updates on upcoming grant cycles.
About the OneOhio Recovery Foundation
The OneOhio Recovery Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation created under the leadership of Governor Mike DeWine and Attorney General Dave Yost, and other state and local leaders, with the mission of advancing Ohio’s addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts now and into the future.
The Foundation is governed by a 29-member board from across Ohio and is funded by 55 percent of settlement funds that Ohio is receiving from the pharmaceutical industry as a consequence of its role in the national opioid epidemic. Funds support local efforts to prevent and combat addiction and are also invested to support those efforts for the long term.
About LEAD Training
LEAD Training is a Cincinnati-based nonprofit organization that helps students from kindergarten through young adulthood build the skills they need to succeed in life and career. LEAD designs and delivers impactful programs centered on career readiness, life skills and social-emotional learning (SEL) by instilling confidence and helping to create a clearer vision for their future. Through innovative programming such as its High School Workforce Initiative where 2,500 students participated and customized SEL modules and career coaching, LEAD works to guide students towards viable post-secondary paths, whether traditional college, polytechnic education, career or service. LEAD’s programs achieved measurable results in the 2024-25 school year including 93% of Career Quest seniors graduating with a clear career plan, 91% of High School SEL Future Leaders students reporting growth in their social-emotional skills, and a 96% overall satisfaction rate among students. To learn more about how LEAD fuels futures, schools and workforce development, visit https://www.lead-training.org/.
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