Talent in America is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. Year Up serves young adults who are often overlooked as a source of talent, but are motivated, resilient, and bring a diverse range of skills, experiences, and perspectives to the workforce. These young adults are capable and driven to succeed, but they lack access to quality job pathways and economic mobility due to systemic barriers and social and economic inequities that perpetuate the Opportunity Divide. Once connected to opportunity, they are able to launch professional careers, strengthen their communities, and lift others while they climb.
Founded in 2000, Year Up has served more than 40,000 young adults (Opportunity Talent) in 25 cities across the United States. Since our program launched locally in 2016, Year Up has served more 1,300 young adults in North Texas. Four-month outcomes demonstrate that Year Up Dallas/Fort Worth graduates are career ready with 88% of our graduates employed and/or enrolled in postsecondary education; with those employed full-time earning an average starting wage of $27.87/hour, equivalent to a salary of $55,740 per year.In partnership with our portfolio of leading employer partners, Year Up connects young adults who need access to opportunity with companies that need access to talent—the bright, motivated, and career-ready talent they need to remain competitive and fill the jobs of today and tomorrow. Year Up’s Opportunity Talent bring valuable skills and talent to corporate partners invested in providing economic opportunity, such as Bank of America, Deloitte, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Fidelity, Hillwood, JPMorgan Chase, New York Life, Palo Alto Networks, Salesforce, Topgolf and Wells Fargo.
In collaboration with education partners, like Dallas College El Centro Campus and these incredible corporate partners, Year Up provides an intensive training program that combines technical and essential skill training in high-demand fields, such as business and financial operations, IT help desk and application and software development. The training along with a work-based experience (internship), wraparound services, educational stipends, and stackable and transferable college credits and/or certificates provide a comprehensive blend of services and training preparing Year Up graduates for professional employment immediately upon program completion.
Year Up's mission is to close the Opportunity Divide by ensuring that young adults gain the skills, experiences, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through careers and higher education.
Throughout North Texas various policies and systems-including, but not limited to, discriminatory housing practices, fragmented education systems, and a challenging criminal justice system-have long perpetuated unequal outcomes and stifled economic mobility. This has created and contributed to a pervasive Opportunity Divide that separates talented young adults, who primarily identify as Black, Brown, or other minority backgrounds, from living wage careers. As a result, these young adults have lacked opportunities to thrive, negatively impacting not only their futures, but also those of their families and communities.
In the Dallas area alone, 127,000 young adults (13.1% of young adults ages 16 to 24) are neither in school nor working (Measure of America, 2022). Their exclusion from equitable opportunities and living wage jobs negatively impacts these young adults and the future of the region. At Year Up Dallas/Fort Worth we offer our evidence-based workforce development program to Opportunity Talent ages 18 to 29. The individuals we serve have obtained a high school diploma or GED, have varied educational and employment experiences, and largely identify as people of color (95%). The majority of our students reside in Dallas (especially South Dallas), Garland, Irving, and Mesquite.
Before beginning Year Up, many students are unemployed or underemployed, and report feeling sidelined into unstable jobs, which leave them vulnerable to the cascading effects of financial insecurity, and do not offer the income, benefits, or opportunities for advancement required to thrive.
Your investment in Year Up provides needed operational support to serve as a critical connector between Opportunity Talent and employers, ensuring young adults have onramps to economic stability. With your gift to Year Up DFW, you will help catalyze a vision that creates an equitable future for all. By working in partnership with employers, academic institutions, and community organizations, students will be prepared to compete for careers and thrive in a rapidly evolving economy, ultimately creating a more inclusive and just workforce.
Year Up’s mission is deeply rooted in a commitment to justice, equity, inclusion and diversity of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, religion and socio-economic status amongst our student body and employees.
It’s about doing what is right and fair. It’s about giving space to every voice; making sure our workplace looks like our community; and ensuring every individual is empowered to be their truest, most authentic self.
Organization name
Year Up Dallas/Fort Worth
Causes
Economic/Financial Security/Poverty, Employment & Workforce Development, Racial Equity
Operating Budget
$10,000,000 or more
Counties Served
Collin, Dallas, Denton, Kaufman, Tarrant
BIPOC Serving
Black or African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Latinx, Native American
Address
701 Elm Street, 4th floor