Monthly Newsletter

May 2026

Building Pathways That Last

A Message From Debra Lam

When we launched the PIN internship program, we had five interns — all from Georgia Tech — working on community research projects in four Georgia cities.

This summer, we have 139 interns working across 23 cities in four states, earning 43% more than that first class.

That growth did not happen by accident.

We made a deliberate decision to expand this class while increasing stipends at the same time, supported through earned revenue, grants, and partner investment. Because access to paid, meaningful work shapes careers, strengthens communities, and changes who gets to participate in innovation.

What continues to stand out each year is how quickly students rise to the level of the work when communities trust them with real responsibility. They are not observing from the sidelines. They are contributing to active projects tied to workforce development, public health, emergency response, entrepreneurship, infrastructure, and economic opportunity.

Thank you to our host organizations, funders, the PIN and Georgia Tech teams, and to Senator Sonya Halpern, Cheryl Watson-Harris, and Luo Luo Hong for helping set the tone at this year’s Spark kickoff.

See who these students are below. Then watch what they do.

— Debra Lam, Founding Executive Director, Partnership for Innovation

PIN Community Investment Launch

Over the past five years, PIN has worked alongside communities, researchers, startups, universities, nonprofits, and public-sector leaders to help move innovation into practice.

Across that work, one challenge has surfaced consistently.

Strong ideas often struggle in the space between early momentum and long-term implementation.

Communities may identify urgent needs but lack the technical or operational capacity to move projects forward. Researchers and startups may develop promising solutions without trusted pathways into real-world environments. Early pilots can generate excitement, but sustaining the work requires coordination, continuity, and long-term partnership across sectors.

Over time, PIN has helped fill parts of that gap through applied research partnerships, talent placement, stakeholder engagement, and cross-sector collaboration throughout Georgia and the Southeast.

The launch of the PIN Community Investment Program represents the next step in that work. READ MORE

PIN by the Numbers

Read Our Impact Report.

Mental Health Response and the Long Arc of Innovation

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and in Georgia nearly 150 of the state’s 159 counties face mental health workforce shortages. Emergency room visits tied to behavioral and mental health crises have doubled since 2015.

Over the last three years, PIN has worked with the Modular Agile Deployment Lab at Kennesaw State University on a project using AI and natural language processing to help 911 dispatchers identify when callers may be experiencing a mental health crisis.

The goal is to route individuals toward appropriate care instead of defaulting immediately to police or emergency room response.

The project itself reflects PIN’s broader deployment model:

a local challenge identified through community need
technical expertise brought in through university partnership
Emerging Innovators supporting research and development
sustained investment over multiple years
operational continuity instead of a one-time pilot

The project received an initial investment from the Betty and Davis Fitzgerald Foundation and now enters its third summer of continued development and refinement. READ MORE

Partnership Spotlight

VIDEO: Metro Atlanta CEO Interview with Clarence Anthony, Jr.

This month, Clarence Anthony Jr, Engagement Manager, sat down with Metro Atlanta CEO to talk about PIN's partnership with various organizations across the state to create lasting positive changes in communities throughout the southeastern region. WATCH NOW

In the Community

Where Long-Term Innovation Takes Root

Last month at the Mission Investors Exchange National Conference, Debra Lam joined conversations with foundations and impact investors focused on long-term economic development.

One theme surfaced repeatedly: capital is increasingly flowing toward regions with strong talent pipelines, cross-sector coordination, and communities ready to adopt and sustain innovation. Those same conditions are continuing to take shape across many of the communities PIN supports throughout Georgia and the Southeast.

Westside Atlanta Communitys and Georgia Tech Convening

Members of the Georgia Tech and the Westside communities gathered on Georgia Tech’s campus to discuss partnerships focused on workforce development, job access, and developing deeper engagement with K–12 schools on the Westside to create pipelines into higher education and careers. Clarence Anthony Jr, Engagement Manager, represented PIN at the convening.

Innovation in Action: Join What's Next

For five years, the Partnership for Innovation has helped communities turn ideas into action by expanding innovation capacity, strengthening career pathways, and supporting long-term regional growth across Georgia and the Southeast.

Now, PIN is focused on deepening partnerships, expanding pathways into innovation, and helping communities access the talent, infrastructure, and investment needed to scale what works.

Explore how to get involved.

pin@innovate.gatech.edu

Copyright ©2025 Partnership for Innovation. All rights reserved. Partnership for Innovation (PIN) is a public–private catalyst advancing innovation-led economic growth and shared prosperity across Georgia and the Southeast. Since 2020, PIN has delivered 220+ projects in 300+ communities with 200+ partners, deploying nearly 200 technologies and generating more than a 5x return for every dollar invested. Through paid Emerging Innovators fellowships and internships and community-anchored, university-driven solutions, PIN connects talent, research, and capital to scale socio-economic impact. Learn more and get involved at www.pingeorgia.org.