Superstars in Education RECOGNIZING EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION & TRAINING
Closing the Opportunity Divide Year Up Wilmington empowers young adults with the skills, experiences, and support to reach their potential BY REGINA DONATO TALENT IS DISTRIBUTED equally but opportunity is not. It is an unfortunate reality that affects hundreds of thousands of people across the United States. Due to social and economic inequities, very real systemic divides, and a lack of support, many young adults in underserved communities often find themselves only able to access low-paying jobs with little-to-no benefits. Year Up Wilmington provides these individuals with the chance to rise above this threshold. “Year Up serves individuals ages 18-24 who are systematically excluded from education and employment opportunities—and are disproportionately Black, Latinx, or other people of color,” explains Peter Lonie, site director of Year Up Wilmington. This one-year workforce development program provides students with the skills, 22
experiences, and necessary support to reach their full potential and access career opportunities. During the program, students begin with a hands-on technical training portion for six months, which prepares them for middle-skill roles with leading employers in and around Wilmington. Year Up Wilmington aligns this training to industry-specific needs in fields which desperately need talent. This market research resulted in Year Up including training programs focusing on data analytics, financial operations, consumer banking, and software development. Year Up is constantly re-evaluating these fields to ensure students are equipped with in-demand skills. After the six-month learning and development period, students earn an internship at one of Year Up’s corporate partners, including State Chamber May / Jun e 2022
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