United Airlines Donates $1 Million to Create More Career Pathways for Chicago Youth in Expanded Partnership between Year Up & City Colleges of Chicago
CHICAGO (PRWEB) May 31, 2018 -- United Airlines, the nonprofit Year Up Chicago, and City Colleges of Chicago’s Harold Washington College yesterday announced an expansion of their partnership that will offer local young adults a pathway to college completion and upwardly-mobile careers. The program will provide young Chicagoans, ages 18-24, with professional skills classes, a college credit program at Harold Washington College, an internship with United Airlines or other top Chicago-area employers, and a weekly stipend. A $1 million grant from United will support the program’s expansion and a new campus for Year Up Chicago at Harold Washington College.
“Our vision is to grow Year Up Chicago to serve more than 1,000 young adults across the city annually,” said Jack Crowe, Executive Director of Year Up Chicago. “This generous gift from United allows us to begin that expansion at City Colleges, so that more talented young Chicagoans will launch careers at leading Chicago companies like United while earning a college credential.”
United’s investment is expected to grow Year Up Chicago’s reach by 25 percent, helping to close the “Opportunity Divide” and support communities throughout Chicago.
"Connecting our customers to the moments that matter most goes well beyond getting them from point A to point B," said Oscar Munoz, United’s chief executive officer. "We have the opportunity to make lasting, measurable change. We are proud to do our part to help our home here in Chicago, and are excited to share more with each of our hub communities over the coming weeks."
As a first step in the partnership, Year Up Chicago students will pursue college coursework at Harold Washington College to earn a Basic Certificate in Banking, while receiving six months of in-demand career and soft skills training from Year Up, followed by a six-month corporate internship at United or another top company.
“City Colleges students are prepared to enter the workforce as in-demand, highly skilled professionals ready to seize the 21st century job opportunities in today’s global economy," said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “This collaboration between United Airlines, Year Up and City Colleges of Chicago will provide students with the support they need to graduate and go on to achieve the successful futures they deserve.”
“Chicago has many talented young people eager to pursue careers to better themselves, their families and communities,” said Juan Salgado, chancellor, City Colleges of Chicago. “Through partnerships like this one, we are offering Chicagoans a powerful ‘earn and learn’ experience that offers economic stability, educational opportunity and a path to upward mobility.”
The banking certificate program will prepare the students for internships and entry-level roles in financial operations, banking, and financial client services. Ninety percent of Year Up Chicago graduates are employed and/or enrolled in postsecondary education within four months of completing the yearlong program, with the most recent graduating class posting an average starting salary of more than $38,000/year. Year Up Chicago has served more than 1,080 students to date.
The initial goal is to enroll 160 Year Up Chicago students at Harold Washington College annually.
“Harold Washington College has an untapped workforce pipeline of nearly 13,000 students in the middle of downtown Chicago,” said Dr. Ignacio Lopez, Interim President of HWC. “Year Up will not only help more students connect to careers and their passions, it will also communicate a larger message to surrounding employers about the talent we have right here under our roof.”
Harold Washington College faculty will teach the technical courses, while Year Up staff will lead career development classes covering skills such as interview preparation, resume building and writing, working in a team, interviewing and follow up.
Along with United, dozens of organizations in Chicagoland — including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Northwestern University, Allstate, US Foods, Exelon, Accenture, and Hyatt — turn to Year Up Chicago for bright, motivated entry-level talent in areas such as Information Technology, Financial Operations, Project Management Support, Cyber Security and Sales & Customer Support.
Year Up is actively recruiting young adults, ages 18 to 24 with high school diplomas or GEDs, for the upcoming cycle at the new campus. Admissions information is available at http://www.yearup.org/seize-opportunity.
About Year Up
Year Up is an award-winning, national 501(c)3 organization that provides talented and motivated young adults ages 18-24 with the skills, experience, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through professional careers and higher education. Through a one-year, intensive training program, Year Up utilizes a high support, high expectations model that combines marketable job skills, stipends, coursework eligible for college credit, and corporate internships at more than 250 top companies. Its holistic approach focuses on students' professional and personal development to enable young adults with a viable path to economic self-sufficiency and meaningful careers. Year Up has served more than 19,500 young adults since its founding in 2000, and will serve more than 4,000 young adults in 2018 across 21 U.S. cities in Arizona, Baltimore, Bay Area, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Greater Atlanta, Greater Boston, Greater Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, National Capital Region, New York City, Providence, Puget Sound, South Florida and Wilmington. Year Up has been voted one of the “Best Non-Profits to Work For” by The NonProfit Times for eight consecutive years, and rated a 4-star charity by Charity Navigator for twelve consecutive years, placing them in the top 1% of tracked organizations. To learn more, visit http://www.yearup.org or follow us (@YearUp) on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
About Harold Washington College & City Colleges of Chicago
Harold Washington College (HWC) is one of the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC), which is the largest community college system in Illinois and provides a quality and affordable post-secondary education. Located in the Loop, HWC is City Colleges’ center of excellence for business and professional services. HWC also offers general education courses.
CCC prepares more than 80,000 students annually for further college and careers. CCC encompasses seven colleges and five satellite sites city-wide. The City Colleges of Chicago includes seven colleges: Richard J. Daley College, Kennedy-King College, Malcolm X College, Olive-Harvey College, Harry S Truman College, Wilbur Wright College and HWC. For more information about HWC or City Colleges of Chicago, or for registration information, call (773) COLLEGE or visit http://www.ccc.edu.
About United
United Airlines and United Express operate approximately 4,600 flights a day to 354 airports across five continents. In 2017, United and United Express operated more than 1.6 million flights carrying more than 148 million customers. United is proud to have the world's most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark/New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 750 mainline aircraft and the airline's United Express carriers operate 545 regional aircraft. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 191 countries via 28 member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter or connect on Facebook.
Roberto Zeledon, Year Up, http://www.yearup.org, +1 (857) 305-9995, [email protected]
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