YEAR UP INC
Empowering young adults to move from minimum wage to meaningful careers
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Talent in America is spread evenly, but opportunity is not. Today, over 5 million young adults are cut off from any real path to a stable career — despite having the talent and drive to achieve more. At the same time, American businesses face a crippling skills gap of 12 million jobs through 2025, costing the United States economy approximately $160 billion per year in lost revenue and unrealized spending. We call the chasm between these groups the Opportunity Divide, and the economic and social implications are staggering. Addressing this challenge is a national imperative shared by employers, policy makers, and non-profits. The good news? There's a proven solution. By providing young adults with the professional and technical skills hiring companies need, we ensure they can launch successful professional careers, while providing American businesses with an untapped source of bright, motivated young talent.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Year Up
Year Up serves young adults who have earned a high school diploma or GED but are otherwise "disconnected" from the economic mainstream. In partnership with leading US employers, Year Up invests in highly motivated, determined young adults. Our young adults participate in an intensive program, composed first of technical training and professional skills development, followed by an internship with one of our corporate partners.
Where we work
Accreditations
Philanthropy 400 2015
Charity Navigator 2020
Awards
Best Non-Profits to Work For 2018
Non-Profit Times
Charity Navigator 2020
Four Star Charity
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Young adults
Related Program
Year Up
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We are committed to growing in existing markets and launching in new markets to meet the needs of young adults and companies, and to doing so with quality.
Average hourly wage of clients who became employed after job skills training
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Young adults
Related Program
Year Up
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We strive to ensure that program alumni are employed in meaningful careers that enable economic self-sufficiency.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
We aim to offer all young adults—no matter their background, income, or zip code—access to economic opportunity and social justice. Our mission is to close the Opportunity Divide by ensuring that young adults gain the skills, experiences, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through careers and higher education. The Opportunity Divide is the vast gap between talented young adults who have been traditionally been overlooked and underserved, and leading companies seeking diverse talent to fill critical middle-skills roles. Year Up achieves its mission through three interconnected strategies: direct service for students and alumni, empowering others to serve and support young adults, and changing systems that perpetuate the Opportunity Divide.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
With a 20-year track record of success, Year Up’s workforce development program provides transformative opportunity to talented, motivated, and resilient young adults, who are unable to access the traditional “college to career” pathway. Year Up’s direct service program combines training in transferable and marketable job skills, a professional internship with one of 250+ employer partners, educational stipends, college credits, and wraparound support. Driven by employer demand, Year Up trains young adults for middle-skill roles in high-demand career fields such as information technology, software development, cyber security, and finance. Year Up also provides training in professional skills that are essential for surviving and thriving in today’s workplace, such as clear communication, how to give and receive feedback, etiquette for emails and meetings, networking, and time management. Since its founding in 2000, Year Up has served more than 43,000 young adults across the United States through its program.
To truly close the Opportunity Divide, Year Up recognizes that it must focus on the root causes, like systemic racism, exclusionary hiring practices, and other deeply entrenched barriers. Year Up engages and advises a broad range of employers, providers, and policymakers to solve their workforce challenges and expand economic opportunity for underserved populations.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our People: Year Up recognizes the importance of human capital, and as such, we have made significant investments in pertinent areas, including learning processes and succession planning. In addition, we have made a significant commitment to deepening our knowledge and skills around diversity and cultural competency. We are proud to have attracted a team of diverse and culturally-competent individuals who believe deeply in closing the Opportunity Divide. Thanks in part to these efforts, Year Up experiences an employee attrition rate that is less than half the industry norm for youth-serving organizations. Year Up has been recognized by The NonProfit Times as one of the Best Nonprofits to Work For.
Our Partners: Year Up's model is predicated on building deep partnerships with corporate partners, innovative community colleges, and other leading nonprofits. Our partners are indispensable contributors to our strategy and to our core work of serving students.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since 2000, we have directly served more than 43,000 young adults across the United States.
We engage and advise a broad range of employers, providers, and policymakers to solve their workforce challenges and expand economic opportunity for underserved populations.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
YEAR UP INC
Board of directorsas of 01/26/2024
Paul Edgerley
Bain Capital
Term: 2021 -
Gerald Chertavian
Year Up
Timothy Dibble
Alta Communications
Joe Baratta
Blackstone
Rod McCowan
Accelerance Group
Ruth Bowen
Bank of America
Paul Edgerley
Bain Capital
Jim Fowler
GE
William Green
Accenture
Judy Miner
Foothill-De Anza Community College District
Barby Siegel
Zeno Group
Greg Walton
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peter Handrinos
Latham & Watkins LLP
Angelica Pineda
Salesforce
Cindy Robbins
Salesforce
Anel Perez
Amazon Web Services
Geleana Drew Alston
Alston Education Group
Jared Goodman
McKinsey & Company
Reshma Kewalramani, M.D., FASN
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Karen Reardon
Bank of America
Garrett Moran
Former COO, Blackstone Private Equity
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 07/10/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.