With unemployment on the rise and the future of work uncertain, there has never been a more urgent time to invest in programs that can help us build a diverse workforce. To deepen our commitment to this effort, today, we are announcing $1.25 million in grants to two organizations: Year Up and City University of New York (CUNY).
To achieve a truly diverse, equitable economy, there needs to be multiple pathways to success, especially for students from underserved communities, who are disproportionately Black and Latinx. Both Year Up and CUNY’s Career Success on Campus program are working to create these diverse pathways for young adults by equipping them with the skills, experiences, and connections needed for meaningful employment in high-wage, high-demand jobs.
We’re granting $750,000 to the nonprofit Year Up, a long-term partner, to support their work in ensuring that young adults gain the skills, experiences, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through careers and higher education.
We’re granting $500,000 to the City University of New York (CUNY) to support the Career Success on Campus program that connects students with meaningful employer interactions, applied learning, and work-based experiences during college.
Building on a long-term partnership with Year Up
In 2008, we launched our partnership with Year Up, hosting 3 interns in our initial cohort in our San Francisco office. Over the past 12 years, Salesforce has hosted 500+ Year Up interns in 7 cities.
Salesforce has donated more than $8 million to Year Up to support programs training tens of thousands of young adults across the country.
This grant will support Year Up Bay Area’s yearlong program for young adults in the region, and help shift Year Up’s national curriculum to a competency- and skills-based model.
“Salesforce’s commitment to young adults who deserve an opportunity and economic justice has been unwavering since our partnership began,” said Gerald Chertavian, Founder & CEO, of Year Up. “This most recent investment will ensure a lasting positive impact on our students, their families, and our communities by helping us to better meet the evolving talent needs of our company partners and the young adults we serve.”
Investing in career success
The City University of New York (CUNY) is the nation’s largest urban public university. With a core mandate to provide a high-quality, affordable education to all New Yorkers, CUNY serves as the city’s largest engine of economic mobility through higher education.
This grant will support a new program, Career Success on Campus, to build the capacity of CUNY colleges to create pathways to careers post-graduation. This supports CUNY’s commitment to ensuring that all CUNY graduates are able to find meaningful employment within one year of graduation.
“This grant is another example of CUNY’s commitment to working with private sector partners who are as devoted to educational equity and career success as we are,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “Thanks to Salesforce’s generous support, we will launch our new Career Success on Campus initiative at three CUNY colleges — John Jay College for Criminal Justice, the College of Staten Island and Guttman Community College — increasing campus capacity to help students prepare for their chosen careers. By creating new, innovative pathways that focus on career readiness and expanding paid internship opportunities for our students, this program will increase our ability to do what CUNY does best: improve economic mobility for our students.”
Future-ready strategy
These grants are part of our ongoing Future Ready initiatives and reflect our commitment to investing in programs that aim to break the cycle of poverty and inequality. With COVID-19 disproportionately impacting vulnerable communities, the work being done by these organizations is more important than ever and will be key to creating a more inclusive post-pandemic economy.
