Signing Day 2026: Academy Graduates Step Into Careers Close to Home
September 16, 2026
By Positive Energy Hub Staff
This year, 52 graduates of the CNX Foundation's Mentorship Academy committed to a next step: a job, an apprenticeship, or military service. On August 14, graduates gathered at PNC Park for Signing Day — the culmination of a program year spent touring job sites, meeting industry leaders, and building the professional network that turns an interest into an offer.
These graduates are heading into roles with CNX, UPMC, Deep Well Services, BestPLUS, Sevita Health, apprenticeships with the building trades, and — for three graduates — into military service. Many of these paths require no four-year degree, a focus of the Academy, which is built around access to opportunity rather than a single prescribed path.
The relationship doesn't end at the signing table. The mentors, employers, and peers a student meets through the Academy stay part of their world after graduation, reflecting the CNX Foundation's micro-TIL philosophy — tangible, impactful, local support defined by follow-through rather than a one-time gesture.
That is Appalachia First in practice: regional employers investing in regional talent, and young people finding that the opportunity they were looking for was already here.
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