Year Up Wilmington launches to train high school grads for IT and business jobs

“It’s not a handout, it’s a hand up,” Year Up External Affairs Manager Anan Johnson said while describing the Year Up program.
Year Up is a 17-year-old national organization that gives underprivileged young adults, ages 18 through 24, professional training and the opportunity to get in front of major corporations and advance their careers.
Year Up has programs in major cities across the country, including Boston, Chicago, Baltimore and Philadelphia.
The organization launched its Wilmington location, a partnership with Peirce College, in February and held a ribbon cutting  this month. The inaugural class currently has 30 students, who are studying either the business or IT track. Upon completion, students will have earned up to 24 college credits.

Honored to be part of the @YearUpWILM #RibbonCutting here #inWilm. #WilmToday #WilmDE pic.twitter.com/UP4OOOfr8S

— Mayor Mike Purzycki (@MikePurzycki) April 18, 2017

Johnson, who is the external affairs manager for both the Greater Philadelphia and Wilmington programs, said the organization decided to open a Wilmington branch, located in the Community Education Building, because they saw a need for the facility.
“The employer demand is here,” he said. “There are several financial institutions and other partners here. Wilmington is a great city and there are a lot of young adults with a lot of talent, but no sustainable pathway to a career.”
The intensive yearlong course will teach students the proper way to network, handle changes at the workplace and interact with executives.
“For the first six months, students learn how to survive in a corporate setting. They also take courses at Peirce College,” Johnson said. “The following six months, students are given internships at the local companies we are partnered with.”
Those companies include powerhouses, such as JPMorgan Chase and Discover.
Johnson said the goal of Year Up is for students to either get hired by the companies they intern for or go on to finish college.
“Our motto is ‘high expectations, high support.’ We don’t give our students anything they earn it. We just provide students with the opportunity to be in front of these companies,” he said.
According to Johnson, 85 percent of graduates are either employed or enrolled in college four months after completing the program.
“Nationally, 40 percent of our students are offered a full-time position from the company they interned with, and they earn an average of $36,000 per year.”