Year Up Announces Expansion Into Puget Sound Region With The Seattle Foundation as Founding Partner

Year Up expands into the Pacific Northwest to provide disconnected youth with access to career training and higher education opportunities with the assistance of local philanthropic leader, The Seattle Foundation

SEATTLE, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Year Up announced today plans for expansion into the Pacific Northwest with its launch of the Year Up Puget Sound site in March 2011. The organization received a $225,000 grant from The Seattle Foundation, a founding partner and supporter. The contribution — which will be distributed over three years — will allow Year Up to replicate its effective model for enabling young adults to reach their potential through professional careers and higher education.

Year Up is a national organization that provides professional career training to low-income young adults and helps them secure internships with top U.S. companies. Its scalable model prepares students for the workforce using a unique combination of technical and professional instruction, college credits, an educational stipend and corporate internships. Successful completion of the intensive, one-year program enables graduates to move into employment and higher education.  To date, 84 percent of graduates have been placed into positions within four months of graduation earning an average salary of $30,000 per year or have enrolled in full-time higher education.

"The Seattle Foundation's partnership with Year Up underscores our commitment to connecting Seattle's young adults to the resources and opportunities that are desperately needed to propel their future success," said Norman Rice, Chief Executive Officer at The Seattle Foundation. "As we continue to make our community a better place to live, Year Up's presence will enable young adults across Seattle to pursue their dreams while at the same time helping them cross into the economic mainstream."

Year Up's Puget Sound site will officially open and begin serving students in March 2011. The first class will enroll 24 students. The second class will come 6 months later, more than doubling the size of the site.

"The Seattle area alone is home to 15,000 disconnected young adults, 18 to 24 year olds who have not progressed beyond a high school diploma and are neither employed nor enrolled in post-secondary education," said Lisa Chin, Executive Director of Year Up Puget Sound. "The Seattle Foundation's generous grant will provide these individuals the chance to reach their potential while we supply Corporate America with an untapped pipeline of local talent."

"Year Up's comprehensive expansion strategy reflects a growing need that both communities and individuals have for education and job training," said John Stanton, the Chair of Year Up Puget Sound's Board. "Both Seattle and Tacoma are 'high-need' cities. Our innovative and scalable model will increase local students' access to livable-wage jobs, as well as provide a pathway for students to continue their education and obtain the post-secondary credentials needed to be competitive in today's knowledge economy."

This announcement comes in the wake of Year Up opening an additional site in Chicago and a college-based pilot program in Baltimore, both scheduled to launch in September 2010. In addition, Year Up currently has offices in Atlanta, Boston, New York, Providence, San Francisco Bay Area, and the National Capital Region (Washington, D.C.).

About Year Up, Inc.

Year Up's mission is to close the Opportunity Divide by providing low-income young adults with the skills, experience, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through professional careers and higher education. Year Up achieves this mission through a high support, high expectation model that combines marketable job skills, stipends, internships, college credit, a behavior management system and several levels of support to place these young adults on a viable path to economic self-sufficiency. Year Up currently serves more than 1,000 students a year at sites in Atlanta, Baltimore (College Based Pilot Program), Boston, Chicago, New York, Providence, San Francisco Bay Area, and the National Capital Region, and will be opening in Puget Sound in the year ahead. To learn more, visit www.yearup.org.

About The Seattle Foundation

Established in 1946, The Seattle Foundation's mission is to create a healthy community through engaged philanthropy, community knowledge and leadership. It is the oldest and largest community foundation in the region, with more than 1,140 family and individual funds and assets in excess of $500 million. The Seattle Foundation awards nearly $50 million in grants each year. Learn more about the Foundation at www.seattlefoundation.org.

SOURCE Year Up, Inc.