Year Up for me is a year in which the young adults that we serve have an opportunity to move up in their lives and gain the access and opportunity they need to realize their potential.

When it comes to expanding opportunity, businesses and young adults are not the sources of the problem - they are a substantial part of the solution.

As we say at Year Up all the time, investing in our young people is not just a matter of economic justice. It's good business sense.

At Year Up, we have helped thousands of students rise from poverty into a professional career in a single year.

You have, unfortunately, a K-12 educational system where the requirements to graduate are not the requirements to be college and career-ready. So if you want young adults who are college and career-ready, our K-12 system right now does not have that as its standard.

At Year Up, our students - low income 18-24 year olds - come to us having already faced substantial obstacles in life. They are not in search of a handout; what they want most of all is the ability to take ownership of their own futures.