Year Up Inc. Announces Creation of the Professional Training Corps at Clinton Global Initiative America
Year Up Founder and CEO Gerald Chertavian to Lead Discussion on Workforce Development and Disadvantaged Youth
BOSTON, June 30, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Year Up outlined an economic empowerment Commitment to Action focused on the creation of a nationwide program called the Professional Training Corps (PTC) today at Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) America. The conference, hosted by President Bill Clinton, is the first CGI meeting focused on driving job creation and growth in the United States. Gerald Chertavian, Founder and CEO of Year Up, has been selected to lead a working group discussion that will focus on workforce development and serving disadvantaged youth. Five students from Year Up's Chicago site will volunteer at the event.
Lauded by President Barack Obama for its proven, innovative approach, Year Up is a national nonprofit organization that provides an intensive education and job training program for urban young adults. Students earn college credits during the program and engage in internships with top U.S. companies, including Bank of America, Google and Microsoft, among many others. Successful completion of the intensive, one-year program enables graduates to move into full-time living-wage employment and higher education. Newly released research independently conducted by Economic Mobility Corporation indicates that students who complete the Year Up program have access to higher quality jobs and earned up to 30 percent more than those who did not.
The new PTC will adapt Year Up's successful direct service program to create enterprising pathways for urban young adults with college and employment. Modeled after the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC), the PTC will be a community college-based program that will connect young adults to living-wage employment so they can support themselves and build professional skills while they obtain an associate's degree. The PTC model, designed to serve at least 100,000 young adults every year, is built on key elements of the Year Up program and tailored to the community college student to accelerate their academic and professional success.
"Year Up is honored to participate in CGI America with other top leaders from the private, public and nonprofit sectors, and to work on tackling the challenges facing job growth in our country today," said Chertavian. "Community colleges are a critical avenue for students to gain the skills required for obtaining jobs at America's top companies. Millions of young adults across our country and thousands of companies will benefit from an approach that enables young adults to reach their full potential by graduating with the credentials American companies need to compete."
PTC students will attend college full-time during the first year, then transition to part-time school in the summer and second year while they gain professional work experience with employer partners. At the end of the second year, students will earn their associate's degrees and will have the necessary skillset for careers in finance, information technology and healthcare.
The PTC will incorporate the central tenets embedded in Year Up's core model: contextualized learning so that students understand the real-world relevance of their education; soft skills to support students to succeed in professional environments; attachment to the local labor market and stipends so that they can support themselves and their families while pursuing education; high expectations that reflect the standards they'll encounter in the workplace; and the social and emotional support needed to persist.
About Year Up Inc.
Year Up's mission is to close the Opportunity Divide by providing urban 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. Its 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 1,300 students a year at sites in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New York City, Providence, San Francisco Bay Area, the National Capital Region, and Puget Sound (Seattle). To learn more, visit www.yearup.org or www.youtube.com/yearupinc.
About the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)
Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges. Since 2005, CGI Annual Meetings, which take place in New York each September, have brought together nearly 150 current and former heads of state, 18 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, along with heads of foundations, major philanthropists, directors of the most effective nongovernmental organizations, and prominent members of the media. These CGI members have made nearly 2,000 commitments, which have already improved the lives of 300 million people in more than 180 countries. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued in excess of $63 billion. The 2011 Annual Meeting will take place September 19-22 in New York City.
CGI America is the first CGI meeting focused solely on the U.S. The CGI community also includes CGI University, which hosts an annual meeting for undergraduate and graduate students, and CGI Lead, which engages a select group of young CGI members for leadership development and collective commitment-making. For more information, visit www.clintonglobalinitiative.org.
SOURCE Year Up Inc.
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