Kim Williams knows first-hand how tough it can be to juggle school, work and the stress of everyday living when money is tight. “I grew up south of Boston in a low-income family, and as a kid, we lived in a motel,” she recalled. “It took me 10 years at night to earn an undergraduate degree in business, but I had lots of people along the way who gave me guidance.”
Williams went on to a 17-year career at Microsoft, but it was hearing about a program called Year Up that convinced her to leave that job to help young people facing the same sorts of challenges she overcame. For the past two years, she has led Year Up Atlanta, a nonprofit that each year works with about 250 struggling 18- to 24-year-olds to get them plugged into an education and a professional career.
“I was so inspired by what I heard about Year Up that I sent an e-mail to the founder and visited programs in Boston, New York and Atlanta,” said Williams. “Then I quit my job to be here.”
Year Up forms partnerships with local colleges to impress on participants the importance of education and to help them earn an associate’s degree, said Williams. Courses are geared toward the skills local employers have identified as most important. About 45 percent of the participants get jobs on IT help and support desks; others fan out into programming, cyber security, customer service, quality control and more.
Participants also must attend a series of seminars on topics such as dressing professionally and business etiquette before they can be paired with a local company or corporation for a paid internship.
“We serve our students, but our customers are the business partners,” said Williams. “We work with companies such as GE, Georgia Pacific and Rollins to create a pipeline of talent. We train our young people on different tracks tailored to the talent our partners are looking for, then they do a six-month internship on site where they learn the technical and soft skills.”
Currently, about 140 participants have internships at 48 area companies, but most often, Williams doesn’t have enough students to meet the partners’ demands. Though about 1,800 apply, limited space and a rigorous application process keep the numbers of students to just 250 each year.
“We have candidates go to an information session, a comprehensive assessment and one-on-one interviews,” said Williams. “We’re looking to serve the young adult who is in a low-paying job or not working but who also shows the grit, passion, drive and resilience it takes to become independent and self-sustaining.”
When Lacey King, a 22-year-old from McDonough, found out she’d made the cut last year, “It was like NFL draft day,” she said.
“I heard about the program from a friend who told me how much it had helped her professionally and financially, and I went to an information session to find out if there was a catch,” she said. “I had left the University of West Georgia and was working 40 hours a week and trying to refocus. This program has given me the chance to do that.”
After five months of training, King nabbed an internship with Georgia Pacific’s Human Resources department, and after it ended in April, she was hired full-time. Now she has a three-year plan that includes going back to school for a business degree.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life,” she said, “but this program has been my saving grace.”
Information about the Year Up program, including how to apply: yearup.org.
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