Turning AI into practical education and real career opportunity.

Founder profile

Joe McKenna is the founder and CEO of CloudWise Academy, where he helps schools, colleges, businesses, workforce partners, and community organizations turn AI into practical education and real career opportunity.

Joe started this work in 2015 with a simple belief: people do not need more theory. They need practical skills, real experience, and a path to better work. That principle still drives the work today. CloudWise Academy identifies real workforce pathways, then develops education programs around them so students are not just learning concepts. They are building skills connected to jobs, internships, businesses, employers, and economic opportunity.

Through CloudWise Academy's education platform, Joe and his team have developed and supported 22 courses embedded across the education system, from AI lessons inside high school biology courses all the way up to college minors, majors, and master's degree programs. These programs have been built with education and workforce partners including ETSU, Tusculum University, Jeremiah School, Founders Forge, the Johnson City Chamber of Commerce, American Job Center partners, and regional economic development organizations.

CloudWise Academy has also been awarded $1.2 million in grants from the State of Tennessee to expand AI and workforce training across the region. That support has helped scale a model focused on training with outcomes: students work on real projects, solve real problems, and learn how to use AI as a practical coworker.

Joe and his team also launched CrushingIT.ai as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to provide structure for stranded and underserved workers who need access to the tools, experience, and support required to participate in the AI economy. CrushingIT.ai helps create pathways for people who are often left out of traditional workforce systems by giving them the chance to work on real community projects while helping local employers solve the technical roadblocks holding them back.

The goal is not to teach AI as a trend. The goal is to build a regional workforce engine where education, employers, students, job seekers, and community partners are connected through real work and measurable outcomes.

Joe is known for making AI understandable, useful, and immediately practical. His work helps people move from confusion to confidence and helps communities build the talent pipeline they need for the AI economy.