Year Up believes that we can close the opportunity Divide in our society by providing urban young adults with the skills, experience, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through careers and higher education.

Description:
Year Up is a one-year intensive training program that provides urban young adults ages 18 - 24, with a unique combination of technical and professional skills, college credit and a paid corporate apprenticeship.

The first six months of the program are spent training students in either Information Technology Help Desk, Computer Desktop Support, Financial Services, or Customer Service. The second six months of the program are spent as an apprentice at a local company. Year Up is an earn while you learn program which means we pay our students a stipend of $153/per week for the first six months of training and then $250/per week for the final six months when they are placed in a corporate apprenticeship with participating companies such as Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, JP MorganChase, Marsh & McClennan, BlackRock, and WilmerHale. In addition, we offer our graduates 16 free college credits upon completion of the one year program to attend Pace University, our collegiate partner.

Our young people have high school degrees or GED's and typically don't know where to go or what to do next with their lives. This program is a great next step and gives them the skills, support, and collegiate environment to start a career ladder. At least half of our graduates go on to college, when many would not have considered the option before. Our goal is to recruit young men and women that will see this program as a true opportunity to gain technical and professional skills, college credits and start a career path for themselves.

History:
In 2000, Year Up was founded to systematically address the opportunity divide that exists in this country with a comprehensive yearlong program designed to educate urban talent and enable them to advance in an economy that increasingly demands skilled workers.

After researching the program for months, Gerald Chertavian (Year Up CEO and Founder)pledged himself and $500,000 of his own money to start Year Up. This program began in a few rooms in Boston provided by Alta Communications, with a handful of dedicated staff members who were determined to change the face of Boston by giving area youth the opportunity to step up into the corporate world. Year up reached out to area high schools and community based organizations, and assembled its first class of students.

After moving to its own location in Boston (now the national headquaters), Year Up graduated its first class of 20 students on June 20, 2002. The program was an immediate success, with 90% of graduates placed in jobs earning $15/hour within four months.

But success in one location wasn't enough - ultimately, Year Up's goal is to employ a replication model that will allow it to effectively serve thousands of urban young adults across the country. Building on the success of the Boston site, new sites were opened in Cambridge, Providence, Washington D.C., and New York City. Together, these sites serve more than 350 students annually, dramatically increasing Year Up's social impact. Over the next decade, the continued expansion of Year Up will bring new hope and opportunity to cities across the country, and change the way America thinks about its urban youth.

Contact people:

Melissa Ramirez, Admissions & Volunteer Coordinator, (212) 785-3340 Ext. 1325, (email) Dennis Acevedo, Director Of Operations And Apprenticeships, (212) 785-3340 ext 1302, (email)

Address:

55 Exchange Place Suite 403 New York, NY 10005 (See a map)

Directions:

• By taxi – exit at Broadway and Exchange walk two blocks down Exchange – entrance is located across from Bobby Van’s-- entrance is doorway beyond the blue plywood facade • Subway -#4 or 5 train to Wall Street • Subway –. . . (more)   Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: J, M, Z Broad Street / 4, 5 Wall Street,   Walk distance (in minutes): 1 minute