Year Up NYC welcomed its first class of students in September, 2006; in 2009, we will enroll 160. Located across the street from the New York Stock Exchange in the heart of New York City’s financial district, the site serves urban young adults from across the five boroughs.

WHAT'S NEW:
Closing Bell at New York Stock Exchange

Year Up NYC Students, Graduates, Board and Staff had the honor of ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on January 5, 2010, one of the most coveted and recognizable events in the US financial system. Read the details of the event that were posted on the NYSE website.

CIO Roundtable
The CIO Roundtable on November 12th, 2009 brought together 22 Chief Information Officers from different sectors, including finance, government, media, and healthcare, to discuss attracting and retaining millennial generation talent. Conceived of by Year Up NYC Local Board and Leadership Council members, the discussion began with a context-setting presentation by Lisa Hancock of Manpower, a world leader in the employment services industry, on trends among millennial generation workers and challenges and opportunities presented by multigenerational workplaces. Maryfran Johnson, Editor in Chief of CIO Magazine and Events, facilitated the ensuing conversation among the CIOs. The CIOs were then joined by graduates of Year Up NYC who are working in IT in leading corporations. The CIOs bounced their ideas off the graduates, and reported out their insights at the conclusion of the Roundtable.

The Roundtable immediately preceded Year Up NYC's second Benefit at Cipriani Wall Street, and all participants were invited to attend the Benefit to learn more about Year Up NYC. We received tremendous positive feedback and many of the attendees are now initiating partnerships with Year Up NYC.

Women in IT
The Women in IT event hosted by Microsoft on December 8, 2009 brought together 14 outstanding women IT executives from a variety of companies for two interactive panel discussions on how to navigate, negotiate and network as women in the IT field. Over 150 people at all stages of their careers attended the event. They were welcomed by Sarah Steiger, Microsoft Sales Director and Year Up NYC Local Board member. Abbie Lundberg, former Editor in Chief of CIO Magazine, facilitated the conversation. Panelists and attendees networked with each other. We received tremendous positive feedback and many of the attendees would like to make this an annual event.

Second Successful Benefit at Cipriani Wall Street
Year Up NYC hosted our second major benefit at Cipriani Wall Street on November 12, 2009. Len Burnett, co-CEO and Publisher of Uptown Media Group was honored. The event was a tremendous success, attended by 400 people and raising $350,000. Sponsors included: A-List, American Express, Blue Ridge Foundation, CA, Edwin Gould Foundation, JPMorgan Chase, Kaseya, Michael McMahon, OTR Global, Reservoir Capital, Summit Rock Advisors, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Bloomberg LP, Charlotte Houghteling and Edward Smallwood, Google, Janney Montgomery Scott, Leerink Swann, Michel and Melissa Finzi, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP. Click on this link to watch the video shown at the benefit.

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WHO WE SERVE:
Neighborhoods across New York City are represented by Year Up New York City’s students: Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn; the South Bronx; Harlem; East Harlem; the Lower East Side; Bayside, Queens; and Staten Island.

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national Board of Directors

national Technical Local Board

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CONTACT US
Address:
Year Up New York City
55 Exchange Place
Suite 403
New York, New York 10005

Phone: 212-785-3340

For driving directions:

For general questions, contact:
Keanna King
kking@yearup.org

For questions about becoming a Year Up student, contact:
Melissa Ramirez at mramirez@yearup.org

To hire a Year Up intern, contact:
Dennis Acevedo
dacevedo@yearup.org

To volunteer at Year Up, contact:
Melissa Ramirez
mramirez@yearup.org

To invest in or donate to Year Up, contact:
Lisette Nieves
lnieves@yearup.org

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JOB OPPORTUNITIES
There are no positions currently available.

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OUR TEAM, new york city

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Dennis Acevedo
Director of Corporate Internships
Dennis was one of the founding staff members of Year Up NYC and was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY.  Dennis currently serves as the Director of Corporate Internships and initially held the position of Director of Outreach and Admissions when first launching Year Up NYC.  Dennis has held a variety of leadership roles serving young people and prior to joining Year Up he worked on city-wide initiatives with the NYC Department of Education and did extensive work in Community School District 7 located in the South Bronx. Dennis also held the position of Executive Director of the Latino Student Fund, an organization he helped build in Washington, DC, which has provided scholarship grants, tutoring services, and educational opportunities to the Latino community in DC.  Dennis also worked with the March of Dimes National Office as the Manager of National Youth Programs and helped hundreds of high school and college chapters across the country raise $1.2M annually for the prevention of birth defects and infant mortality. Dennis earned a BA in Psychology from S.U.N.Y. @ Stonybrook and an MS in Nonprofit Management from the New School University Graduate School of Urban Policy & Analysis.

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monika ahluwalia
IT Instructor
Before teaching at Year Up, Monika worked as a full time Computer Science Lecturer for Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology (MSIT) affiliated to Indraprastha University, New Delhi, India where she delivered lectures to junior and senior year students of Bachelors of Technology (B.Tech) in Computer Science and Information Technology in subjects like Software Engineering, Interface Programming and Operating Systems. In 2004, she also led work on designing and evaluating innovative user interfaces using HTML and WIN32API on Visual Studio and was appointed as a University Student's exam evaluator for the subject of Software Engineering. Prior to that, she worked as a full time Project Trainee in Standardization, Testing, Quality Assurance Directorate, (STQC), a Ministry of Information Technology, Delhi Government organization in India. She holds a Bachelors of Engineering with Honors degree in Computer Science from RGPV, India and a Masters of Technology (Silver Medalist) in Computer Science from Banasthali Vidyapith, India.

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Melissa Cantave
Academic Manager
Melissa joins Year Up with over 10 years of experience in the field of education.  Before joining Year Up, Melissa was part of the founding team of La Cima Charter School located in Brooklyn, NY.  As the Manager of Operations, she was responsible for supporting and implementing systems for student enrollment, transportation, meals and technology.  Prior to La Cima, she worked for The Princeton Review as a Director of Development.  In this role she was responsible for developing after-school tutoring programs at various school sites throughout New York City.  Melissa earned a BA in Psychology from Loyola University, New Orleans, and an MS in Industrial Organizational Development Psychology from Carlos Albizu University, Miami, FL. 

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Pam Chan
Civic Corp, VISTA: Mentor Volunteer Management
Pam joins Year Up as part of New York City's first Civic Corps in partnership with Americorps VISTA. She graduated from SUNY-Binghamton in May with a B.A. in English and has moved back to her hometown of Fresh Meadows, Queens. She has always wanted to explore and work in the non-profit sector and is excited to be able to serve her city and its needs. In her year of service, she will be working to strengthen and improve the mentor outreach and capacity of Year Up in furthering its vision of closing the opportunity gap.

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Ariana Dugan
FAO Schwarz Family Foundation Fellow: Corporate Engagement
Prior to Year Up, Ariana interned with Smith & Kraus Publishers and ran a branch of Ivy Insiders, an SAT prep company. She also has spent time participating in various musical endeavors, including participating in an a cappella group and arranging music. Ariana recently graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire with a bachelor's degree in English, creative writing.

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Crystal Fields-Sam
Director of Corporate Engagement
Crystal comes to Year Up from Citi Market and Banking where she spent 8 years on the sales side for institutional fixed income, global fixed income and fixed income, currency and commodity structured products. She will bring her sales, relationship and analytical experiences to help "put Year Up out of business."

Crystal is a graduate of Hampton University and was in the U.S. Navy for 4 years where she was stationed in D.C., Greece, Italy and Israel.  She is also a board member of New Perspectives Theater and a marathoner.

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Karen Fleshman
Director of Policy and Grants Management
Karren joins Year Up from the Department of Youth and Community Development, where she specialized in youth workforce development. She served DYCD as Assistant General Counsel, Director of Internal Review, and Director of Special Projects. Karen started up and implemented many high-profile initiatives, including NYC GirlsREACH, a gender-specific corporate sector internship program for high school juniors from areas of need, and Citizenship NYC, a service that assisted 50,000 New Yorkers to apply for US Citizenship. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College (B.A., Latin American Studies), the University of Texas (M.A., Radio-TV-Film), and New York Law School (J.D., cum laude), and is admitted to practice law in New York. Karen serves on the boards of the Mariachi Academy of New York and the Luz C. Colon Memorial Fund.

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Andres Gomez
Student Advocate and Work Support Specialist
Andres joins Year-Up New York in partnership with Community Service Society of New York as part of a new Pilot Program designed to give wrap-around advocacy and support services to Year Up NYC's students. A Queens resident, Andres comes to Year Up NYC with 3 years of experience in foster care. Within the foster care system, Andres has worked as a caseworker, home finder, and Education/Vocation Coordinator for the Youth Development Program. As an undergraduate at Stony Brook University, Andres majored in Sociology and Minored in Child & Family Studies. Andres received his MSW from Stony Brook University.

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Cristina Gonzalez
Civic Corp, VISTA: Alumni Engagement Management
Cristina joins Year Up as part of New York City's first Civic Corps in partnership with Americorps VISTA. Cristina relocated to New York from Tampa, Florida, where she recently graduated from the University of South Florida. Having obtained her B.A. in Mass Communications she plans to return to school in the future to obtain her masters. As part of her year of service she will be working in alumni volunteer management and the creation of sustainable programs.

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Johanna Meadows
Director of Donor Engagement and Events
Most recently, Johanna served as the Operations and Administrative Team Manager of Trafelet Delta Funds, an asset management firm based in New York City with over $1bn in assets. Her responsibilities included overseeing and maintaining the research subscriber/vendor budgets for US Funds, serving as signatory for all investor redemptions, research, and business expenses, and collaborating with departmental heads on various internal and external operational projects. Johanna was also a founding member of the first Philanthropy Committee at Trafelet. Prior to Trafelet, Johanna worked in education, at both First Friends Pre-School in Manhattan and Kaplan K12 Learning Services. At Kaplan, Johanna worked closely with principals, teachers and coaches at over 100 public elementary, middle and high schools throughout the five boroughs to implement skills building programs for students taking City and State mandatory tests. She also managed the 50-person trainer team and taught after-school supplementary education classes to 6th and 7th graders. Born and raised in New York City, Johanna is an alumna of the Spence School and received a BA in History from the University of Pennsylvania followed by working and traveling for a year in Australia and New Zealand.

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Diana Miranda
Outreach & Student Services Manager
Diana joins the NYC Year Up team as Outreach & Student Services Manager. Diana holds a BA from SUNY Oswego in Psychology and Spanish and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. Before working at Year Up, Diana was Office Manager at HSM Americas, Inc; a company that held management training conferences for Corporate America. Diana spent three years at Edwin Gould Foundation as Project/Office Assistant to the President. Diana taught middle school in New York City for four years. She was also a caseworker for Alianza Dominicana's CREO program. Diana offers a wealth of information and experiences, as well as support to the Year Up students and staff.

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Linzey Jones
Admissions and Database Coordinator
Linzey Jones joins the Year Up NYC team as the Admissions and Database coordinator in the Outreach and Student Services Department. Prior to Year Up, Linzey worked in Wireless Generation as a Customer Data Representative. In the Customer Data department his responsibilities ranged from the role of system matter expert on various databases, working as a liaison with the IT department, and assisting customers in all data-related matters. In addition, Linzey is a professional Director and Vocalist. Linzey earned his Bachelor of Music from Manhattan School of Music for classical voice in 2005. He is thankful for the opportunity to be apart of the empowerment and mission that Year Up provides for its young adults.

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Keanna King
Site Leader
Keanna King joins Year Up NYC as a native of Boston, MA and a transfer from Year Up's former Cambridge facility. She is a graduate of Year Up Boston’s class of July 2004 and a recipient of the David E. Retik Award for Excellence. She interned at State Street Research as a Web Production intern and later became a Year Up employee. As one of the founding members of Year Up NYC, she served as the Site Operations Coordinator. Currently a Site Leader, Keanna ensures that students and staff are held to high expectations with high support. She believes that each student’s success is important and provides high quality service to make it happen. She is a Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership Alum. Keanna holds a B.A. in Psychology from Cambridge College. Keanna is privileged to offer support and experience to young adults who need a Year Up.

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Jihye Lee
Events Coordinator
Jihye joins the Year Up team as Events and Grants Coordinator. Jihye was born in South Korea, moved to Brooklyn when she was 6, not speaking any English, and attended NYC public schools. In May 2008, Jihye graduated from Pace University magna cum laude in Political Science. Also in 2008, Jihye completed the Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship, a competitive award for undergraduates from universities in the metropolitan NYC region that provides internships for three consecutive summers. Through the Watson Fellowship, Jihye was an intern at the Legal Resources Centre in South Africa; at Trickle Up, a non-profit organization that assists families around the world to step out of poverty by awarding microgrants; and at the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, where she helped to plan and execute the startup of NYC GirlsREACH, a gender-specific corporate internship program for promising New York City public high school students from areas of need. Jihye worked throughout college as a coordinator for the Pace University's NYC internship program and a Sunday School Teacher and Korean School Coordinator at her local church, and she was also active in Model United Nations. She completed her junior year abroad in Florence and Rome, studying European politics and Roman history, and speaks fluent Korean, Italian, and French.

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Massomeh Muhammad
Alumni Coordinator/FAO Schwarz Fellow
Massomeh joins the New York City Year Up team as a FAO Schwarz Fellow.  Before working at Year Up, she was a teaching artist at after-school programs across New York City where she taught origami, bookmaking, and mask making.  She also interned in the education department at the Skyscraper Museum in Lower Manhattan. Massomeh recently graduated from New York University with a bachelor's degree in Gender and Sexuality Studies and Psychology. 

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Vivian NuÑez
IT Instructor
Vivian joins Year Up with ten years of experience teaching and training in the field of technical administration and support.  Prior to joining Year Up, she worked as the Manager of Administrative System Services and Acting Director of Information Technology at the DeVry Institute of Technology.  Vivian holds an MS degree in Management Information Systems from the Stevens Institute of Technology.

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Charmaine Peart-HoSang
Director of Outreach and Student Services
Charmaine joins the NYC Year Up team as the Director of Outreach & Student Services. Charmaine recently worked as the Director of the NYC Youthline which specializes in providing information/referral/crisis intervention for youth, parents and service providers throughout the City. Charmaine hails from Toronto, Canada where she earned her BS in Psychology from York University and earned her MSW in Administration and Case Work from the Hunter College School of Social Work based in New York City.

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Mariah F. Peebles
FAO Schwarz Family Foundation Fellow: Recruitment
Mariah joins the Year Up team as a FAO Schwartz Family Foundation Fellow. Prior to Year Up, Mariah worked at New Sector Alliance where her supported NSA's talent recruitment and social impact consulting programs and assisted in the development NSA's Leadership Training Curriculum. Mariah was also a student Co-coordinator for Peer Health Exchange where she trained college volunteers to teach a comprehensive health curriculum to urban youth in Boston public high schools that lack health education. Mariah recently graduated from Harvard College with a bachelor's degree in History and Science. Her FAO Schwarz fellowship will commence in September 2009.

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Melissa Ramirez
Admissions and Volunteer Coordinator
Melissa joins Year Up NYC as Admissions and Volunteer Coordinator after extensive work with youth across New York City. Most recently, she worked with Astor Home for Children as a screener to identify children with social-emotional needs. She has done extensive outreach into public schools and Head Start centers in the Bronx working with principals and other school staff. In 2006-2007, she was a Public Service Scholar through Hunter College, which offered her the opportunity to explore public service at the Department of Youth and Community Development as an intern. Prior to the scholar program, she volunteered for a year in Kravis Children’s Mt. Sinai Hospital with the Child Life Program, where she helped youth to cope with their experience in the ICU. Melissa recently graduated from Hunter College with a BA in Psychology.

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Sylvia Ramos
Grants Coordinator
Sylvia Ramos is a graduate of Year Up NYC Class 2, and received the David E. Retik Award for Excellence at graduation. She also serves as a Senator to the Year Up NYC Alumni Association. During Year Up, Sylvia interned at Lehman Brothers, and was hired by Lehman when her internship ended. She worked in the Mortgage Derivatives Middle Office while attending Lehman College during the evening. When Lehman Brothers fell, Sylvia moved to STRIVE and became the Office Operations Instructor. She taught subjects such as Microsoft Office Suite and Business Communications to students aged 18 to 45. Sylvia continues her evening sutdies, majoring in Economics with a minor in Computer Information Systems. Sylvia also attended the Woodhull Institute of Ethical Leadership. Working with Year Up was something she knew she had to do even before she graduated. As an alumna, she sees it as her duty to provide other young adults with the same opportunity she was given.

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Margaret Rizzo
Office Manager
Margaret has extensive experience in creating, systematizing, and centralizing processes. She comes to Year Up after seven years of overseeing exams at Brooklyn Law School. At Brooklyn Law School she oversaw a team of 100+ of proctors while maintaining the highest quality of service to the faculty, administration and students. Margaret holds a BA from Fordham in Media Studies, a MA from Columbia University in Gender Ethics, and a MA from Union Theological Seminary in Social Ethics. Margaret is a freelance photographer and is the founder of a travel group for women. In her spare time she tutors public high school students from NYC and the greater NY area for NY State Regents Exams, PSAT, SAT, Calculus, and Language Arts/English.

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SID ROSS
Director of Academics
Sid Ross has been involved in adult education for over two decades as an instructor, manager, and teacher-trainer. Previous to joining Year Up, he was the education manager at Grace Institute, a nonprofit job-training program, where he designed and wrote the curriculum for its business skills program. He was also an instructor and an educational supervisor at the New York Association for New Americans, which at one time housed the country’s largest ESL program. A professional writer, Sid wrote for Adweek magazine and the Queens Gazette; is a founding member of WritersGroup, a playwriting collective; and has had his plays produced in New York and Bath, ME. Perhaps his most prized accomplishment, however, is the Year Up Instructional Excellence award he won in 2008. Sid holds a BA in English Literature from New York University and is currently a master's candidate in the Adult Learning and Leadership Department at Teachers College, Columbia University.

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Vilma Schonwetter
Manager of Career Services
Vilma identifies employment and higher education opportunities for Year Up NYC graduates and strengthens relations with graduates, employers, and institutions of higher education. Prior to Year Up, Vilma was a Senior Recruiter within the North America Staffing Division at Citigroup and provided staffing solutions to multiple business sectors within Citi, including Global Transaction Services Operations, Corporate and Investment Bank Operations, Private Bank Operations, Alternative Investments Operations, CitiFinancial, and Citibank. Vilma has been a major supporter of Year Up and while at Citi was responsible for managing employee-related issues, on-boarding processes, and training/development of Year Up interns. Vilma obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Technical and Professional Communications from Polytechnic Institute of NYU and her Master's of Science degree in Human Resource Management from the New School for Management and Urban Policy at New School University. Vilma was interviewed by New York Magazine and featured as a recruiting expert in "The Job Hunters" article published on November 9, 2008. Overall, she has over five years of recruiting experience within various industries and over 10 years of professional experience within the corporate environment.

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Skye Suttie
Business Communications Instructor
Before teaching at Year Up, Skye was as an English Instructor at Clemson University in Clemson, SC where she taught literature and writing classes. Prior to beginning her teaching career, Skye worked as a writer and editor’s assistant for a Long Island-based newspaper. In 2003, before beginning graduate school at Clemson, Skye lived in Spain and later studied in Ireland. Skye holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from SUNY Geneseo, and a Master’s degree in English Literature from Clemson University.

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Wilfrid Velazquez
Site Leader
Wilfrid most recently worked as a Financial Aid/Student Services Representative with Career Blazers Learning Center in New York City. In this role, Wilfrid served as an advisor on financial and student issues for more than 250 students. Prior to this, Wilfrid worked for many years at Hispanic Young People's Alternatives (HYPA), an organization that served over a thousand participants per year in providing educational, recreational, and artistic activities to youth ages 6 through 18 years of age in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. At HYPA, Wilfrid served in many different capacities from their Performing Arts Director, Assistant Beacon Site Director, and finally as the Office Manager to the HYPA Main Office. In late 2007, Wilfrid completed the United Way Junior Fellows Program. The United Way Junior Fellows Program is an intensive management program for non-for-profit professionals. Wilfrid plans to graduate from Brooklyn College in the spring of 2010. He is very thrilled to be a part of Year Up NYC.

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Janelle Viruet
Partner Relations Manager
Janelle Viruet joins Year Up as the Partner Relations Manager with extensive experience in human resources administration and has advised and interviewed hundreds of jobseekers throughout her career. She has worked at Cabrini Medical Center and most recently with Town Sports International managing benefits programs for hundreds of employees and working with corporate vendors on a daily basis. Janelle earned her B.A. in Psychology from Long Island University and her M.S. in Counseling from Pace University. She has also earned 31 credits towards a doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology.

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Malik Williams
Business Communications Fellow
Malik joins Year Up NYC as a Business Communications Fellow. Prior to Year Up, he worked at Saint Joseph's University as a tutor in the writing lab and also worked in the entertainment marketing sector. After being involved with and inspired by Year Up through a volunteer assignment, Malik decided to shift gears and accept a full time position. Malik attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and will be completing his education in NYC.

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