US Chamber of Commerce

“If only someone had believed in me – if I had just been given a chance, I could have made something of myself.”

Many have heard this statement time and time again from youths who felt that nobody gave them a chance to succeed. It is a stark reality that many schools across the nation do not prepare their students for the postgraduate studies and jobs available to them after graduating high school. Other institutions are stepping up to the plate to give students the skills and training they need to succeed.

Wells Fargo has partnered with Year Up to offer a program that addresses challenges facing at-risk youth in the San Francisco area. Year Up is a nonprofit organization providing professional skills training, paid internships, and the ability to obtain college credits to low-income youth between the ages of 18-24. Wells Fargo and Year Up seek to close the opportunity divide for underserved youths in San Francisco, where the company is headquartered, so that more students in the region have a viable path to economic self-sufficiency.

Wells Fargo offers Year Up participants paid internships as entry-level IT support staff. Participants undergo six months of intensive training with Year Up where they first learn the basics of navigating the business world: professional behavior and workplace training, English writing classes, and technology training are all crucial components of this period of study. Participants also receive simultaneous counseling from trained staff that help students translate the technological skills they learn during their internship into postgraduate studies or another job, depending on this student’s preferences and ambitions. A strong emphasis is placed on preparing the student for life after the program. Once the student has successfully completed his or her six months of training, they transfer to a department of Wells Fargo to begin their new career in the corporate world as IT interns.

Wells Fargo has worked with Year Up since January 2009 and has hosted a total of 42 interns over three internship cycles. Of these, seven have been hired full-time after their internships. Wells Fargo’s managers have been exceedingly pleased with their interns and anticipate that the program will continue serving San Francisco’s youth. "Year Up has helped Wells Fargo create a pipeline of young diverse talent whom will be stars as they advance in their careers,” says Ginny Kraus, chief technology officer of Wells Fargo Bank’s Wholesale Insurance Technology division. Wells Fargo’s executive vice president Steve Ellis agrees, citing their interns’ competencies due to the fact that, “Year Up provides young adults with the skills to succeed in business and the confidence to succeed at life.”

Learn more about Wells Fargo’s successes with the Year Up program by watching their video on YouTube.