PIN Fellowship Expands Innovation Across the Workforce in Georgia and Beyond

June 17, 2026, 4:06pm EDT

ATLANTA — The Partnership for Innovation (PIN) is taking its name seriously by once again innovating within its own programs. This time, it’s the PIN Fellowship. Now in its third year, the program’s 2025 cohort is building a workforce for the future.

About the PIN Fellowship Program

The PIN Fellowship is a 12-month, paid workforce development program designed to connect professionals with public and private sector organizations. Fellows rotate through two six-month placements in industries such as AI manufacturing, CleanTech, IT/cybersecurity, FinTech, and supply chain & logistics, contributing to projects that drive innovation and economic mobility.

“We believe that innovation has historically been siloed and uneven,” PIN Executive Director Debra Lam said, “and that innovation is an important catalyst and accelerator for economic growth. We support innovation at the individual level and at the societal and community level, through organizations and by building local, public-private partnerships throughout the state.”

2025 Cohort: Sharp Talent, Bold Projects

The 2025 PIN Fellowship cohort includes not only early career professionals, as were included in the past, but also, for the first time mid-to-late-career professionals are expanding their horizons, while working on important community-focused and tech-related projects that advance innovation.

“This cohort in particular, I think, is very interesting and special,” said Clarence Anthony. Jr., PIN’s Engagement Manager. “For most of the years that we’ve operated the Fellowship, it was just open to those who had graduated from college within the last five years and had at least a bachelor’s degree. For this cohort, we have people from different generations, a wide age gap, as well as broader education levels.”

The cohort has also expanded geographically, with Fellows working across Georgia, Tennessee, and Michigan. At the same time, the portfolio of projects has grown to include new focus areas such as AgTech and Digital Literacy, extending the program’s impact into additional industries and communities.

Expanding Digital Literacy for Seniors

Fellows Yvette McCauley and Shirley Berry Miles, who have decades of work experience, are spending six months at The Spires at Berry College, a senior living community in Rome, Georgia. Funded by the AT&T Foundation, the project aims to bridge the digital divide for older adults.

“Digital literacy today is necessary for people of all ages, specifically our seniors,” said McCauley. “They need to be able to navigate their iPads and other digital devices. Whether it’s shopping online, completing medical paperwork, or accessing Social Security services — it’s all digital now. So, providing this service is essential.”

Following their work at the Spires, Miles and McCauley will move to the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission.

“For PIN to even pick this up — it’s exciting,” said Miles. “It tells me they’re looking at the entirety of us. No matter how old you are or what condition you’re in, you still matter. I feel like this is what PIN is giving back to the senior community. You’re never too old to learn. Never.”

PIN Fellow Vamshi Kanisetty is working with Synovus Bank in his first rotation. His background includes work with Hexagon and Accenture, as well as a master’s from Georgia State University in information systems. His goal is to become an entrepreneur and lead cross-sector projects that merge fintech innovation with community impact, like those offered by the Fellows program.

The Fellowship is a great step in that direction, he said. “It’s helping tremendously. Clarence knows how to create a path to secure students’ careers.”

Supporting Regional Planning in Southwest Georgia

Beka Shiver, economic development and transportation planner at the Southwest Georgia Regional Commission, is looking forward to welcoming her first PIN Fellow, Michelle Lolles in early 2026.

“Our Regional Commission offices serve 14 counties and their 43 cities,” Shiver said. “That’s a lot of local governments, and each have their own set of needs. Our resources are finite. To do this good work, we are eager to welcome this fellow. As planners, our skill sets don’t often lend themselves to data, computing, and systems analyzing; therefore, having this talented fellow, who is going to complete this work for our region, will greatly maximize our resources on hand and work performance.”

2024 Cohort: A Legacy of Impact

The 2024 PIN Fellows recently completed their rotations at companies and organizations including Cox Enterprises, Microsoft, Atlanta BeltLine Inc., Freudenberg NOK, Southface Institute, Park Pride, the Georgia Water Coalition, and Fulton County government.

Reagan Cook applied her degrees in mechanical engineering and data analytics to a position at Carbice, an Atlanta-based company that was spun out of Georgia Tech and manufactures heat-dissipating materials for electronics.

“Part of what drew me to this Fellowship, is I do have these two skill sets, but I was looking to really grow my professional experience in the data analysis space,” Cook said. “I have all this academic experience, but getting your first role in a field is often difficult.”

Cook’s Fellowship was supported by Georgia Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing (Georgia AIM) and involved taking the huge amount of data that is generated by the different tools and machines at Carbice and creating a database for it all that allows Carbice to access it. She was so successful that she continues to work at Carbice as a contractor.

“If you look at us as a startup, it’s not easy for us to have a big team with folks who specialize in a lot of different areas,” said Craig Green, Carbice’s Chief Technology Officer. “Most of the people here at Carbice are mechanical engineers, focused on heat transfer or maybe material science — things related to how we make our product. What Reagan brought with her was a skill set that doesn’t exist here.”

That’s where a program like the PIN Fellowship excels, providing skills that companies and organizations need, while allowing full-time employees to get on with their essential work.

A Vision for Regional Impact

“We launched in 2022 and have now completed four cohorts,” said Anthony. “These cohorts have engaged in professional development programming that exposed them to industries like manufacturing, finance, fintech, and sustainability. Site visits, invited speakers, and career coaching have helped Fellows explore potential career paths and understand the broader innovation ecosystem.”

Anthony also highlighted the Fellowship’s role in advancing regional economic development.

“One of the key trends in regional and economic development is the importance of public-private partnerships and multi-sector collaboration,” he said. “The Fellowship gives people the opportunity to work in the public sector, private sector, and other sub-sectors like nonprofit, research, and higher education.”

This helps Fellows understand how the broader ecosystem works, he said. “That not only benefits the ecosystem but also helps them navigate their career decisions effectively.”

Learn more about how to become a PIN Fellow or partner with the program at pingeorgia.org.