Model and Strategy
Year Up Bay Area addresses the Opportunity Divide with a social justice solution by connecting low-income urban young adults with the education, professional-skills training, and internship experience necessary to place them on a viable path to economic self-sufficiency. Year Up empowers students to move from poverty to a professional career in just one year.
By providing education, experience, support, and guidance simultaneously, students are given the best chance of success. This project confronts one of the root causes of generational poverty by providing access to the mainstream economy through a proven model that helps low-income young adults—who have no viable connection to the mainstream economy—to secure family-sustaining wage jobs in 21st-century, high-growth sectors in the Bay Area.
Impact
Year Up is seeking to solve a mismatch between supply and demand: we are focused on remedying the disconnect between companies’ demand for entry-level and middle-skills talent, and the supply of motivated, hardworking Opportunity Youth.
To build the talent ecosystem, Year Up is working through two complementary work streams: direct service and systems change. Our direct service program is aimed at providing opportunity for young adults to earn a career and continue in the pursuit of education. We know there are nearly 80,000 Opportunity Youth in the Bay Area and are focused on penetrating our fair share of the “market.” We are strategically growing and replicating our direct service program guided by our talent proof-point. Year Up is an exemplar program that produces quality outcomes for Opportunity Youth—namely professional jobs with a career pathway and a clear trajectory for career advancement and earnings gains (along with the continued pursuit of post-secondary education).
Our systems change strategy is founded on the idea that building a field of high-performing providers and strengthening the community college system can generate myriad benefits—and stronger outcomes for low-income young adults. The Opportunity Divide is too grand in scale to address through Year Up’s direct service program alone. Working within systems with much broader reach (e.g. the community college system) will amplify our impact and ultimately transform how our country views talent.
Leadership
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Emily Schaffer
Executive Director