America Needs You (ANY) announces launch of Chicago program

CHICAGO - Jan. 7, 2015 - PRLog -- (CHICAGO) -- America Needs You (ANY (http://www.americaneedsyou.org)), an organization that fights for economic mobility for ambitious, low-income, first generation college students, announced that they will be opening a Chicago office this summer and are currently recruiting fellows for the program.   ANYis currently operating in the New York and New Jersey areas offering a program that is designed to break economic barriersby providing intensive career development, mentorship, and professional networking to enable first generation college students to realize their academic and career aspirations.

ANY’s two-year program offers Fellows career development workshops, internships, and professional development grants.  Every Fellow receives a grant up to $2,500, distributed over two years, to be used for professional development expenses such as GMAT/LSAT preparatory classes, professional attire and printing career portfolios. Fellows are matched one-on-one with successful and motivated, Mentor Coaches, who are professionals from a variety of industries.  Throughout the duration of the program, Mentor Coaches and Fellows work closely to cultivate the Fellows’ strengths and interests, and direct them into successful careers.  Through holistic mentorship and a structured career development curriculum, the Fellows’ program fosters continuous college enrollment and helps Fellows secure internships and job offers upon graduation from four-year institutions leading to meaningful employment and economic mobility.

The most common reason students cite for dropping out is that they do not believe college will help them pursue a career and achieve financial security. “First-generation college students often lack role models to encourage them to persist in their academics or provide them with access to internships and jobs,” says Tiffany McQueen, Illinois Executive Director. Internships, mentorship, and networking are the core of the ANY program and are invaluable to college completion and career success.” In Chicago, only 14% of Chicago Public School graduates earn a college degree and unemployment among 20-24 year olds is at 15%. CPS recently announced a collaboration dedicated to developing solutions to increase college enrollment, persistence and completion for their graduates, with the goal of increasing CPS students college graduation rate to 60 percent by 2025.  This initiative is in line with the mission of ANY.

America Needs You has a proven track record of success in New York and New Jersey that McQueen plans to replicate in Chicago.

ANY’s successes on a national scale include:

·      94% of students completed prestigious internships with, among others, J.P. Morgan Chase, Teach for America, The Law Firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Goldman Sachs;

·      97% of students have graduated, or are on track to graduate, from college (vs. 11% national graduation rate for first-generation students);

·      Within six months of college graduation, nearly 90% of students are employed or enrolled in graduate school;

·      ANY students are seeing beginning salaries averaging over $50K annually compared to the national average of $44K.

McQueen is currently recruiting ANY’s first class of Fellows – high potential, first generation, low-income college students in their freshman year who are ambitious and goal-oriented. For additional information contact tiffany.mcqueen@americaneedsyou.org or visit www.americaneedsyou.org.

About America Needs You

America Needs You (ANY) isa national nonprofit that fights for economic mobility for ambitious, low-income college students. ANY was founded in 2009 by Robert Reffkin, an appointee of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s to the NYC Workforce Investment Board and the NYC Board of Education. Robert saw the incredible unmet need for mentorship and career preparation for low-income students, particularly those who are the first in their family to go to college. He founded ANY to mobilize a movement of young professional volunteers to assist these students in realizing their college and career ambitions. In less than five years, ANY has grown from serving 50 students to over 500 students and plans to establish programs in five sites by 2020.