Year Up Students to Serve as White House Interns

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Year Up National Capital Region (NCR) is announcing a major win in its mission to close the "Opportunity Divide."  Two Year Up students will serve as White House interns. They join other young men and women from across the country who are beginning their service as White House interns.

A formal announcement and celebration occurred at Year Up NCR's graduation ceremony on January 28, where Vivek Kundra, U.S. CIO, was the featured speaker. He highlighted recent federal involvement with Year Up and additional collaborations with the USDA.

Year Up also has partnerships with Corporate Partners, including industry leaders such as Microsoft, AOL, and SAIC, which are an essential part of the success of the Year Up program. "Year Up is at the center of bridging the gap between deserving, talented young people and the new career opportunities they seek," said Andrew Ko, Sr. Director of Microsoft's U.S. Partners in Learning program. "We are proud to be Year Up NCR's first empowerment partner as we continue to work with them to create meaningful opportunities for deserving young adults."

Year Up has been working diligently to scale its influence on the success of the young people it serves, while providing a national, replicable model for workforce development. Significant strides have been made with the support of Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP), which made a five-year, $4.5 million investment in Year Up in 2009.

"We are thrilled that our young adults will have the opportunity to continue their education and professional development at the White House," said Tynesia Boyea-Robinson, Executive Director of Year Up NCR. "The backing of organizations such as VPP has been instrumental in opening the door for both our current cohort of young adults as well as future classes."

Lauded by President Barack Obama for its proven, innovative approach, Year Up is a national nonprofit organization that provides career training to low-income young adults and helps them secure internships with top U.S. companies. The organization prepares students for the workforce using a combination of technical and professional skills, college credits, an educational stipend, and corporate internships. Successful completion of the intensive, one-year program enables graduates to move into full-time employment and higher education. To date, 87 percent of graduates were placed into positions within four months of graduation, earning an average of $35,000 per year.

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 and college credits. Our holistic approach focuses on students' professional and personal development 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 (Seattle) this year. To learn more, visit www.yearup.org.

SOURCE Year Up, Inc.