SILICON SLOPES, Utah, Aug. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pluralsight, Inc. (NASDAQ: PS), the technology skills platform, today announced that the company’s social enterprise, Pluralsight One, is partnering with the national workforce development nonprofit Year Up to close the Opportunity Divide for underserved young adults by building technology skills that strengthen pathways to professional employment.
There are currently 5 million young adults disconnected from stable career pathways while there are 12 million jobs requiring post-secondary education that will go unfilled in the next decade. This creates both an equity problem for millions of young adults that have the talent and motivation but that lack opportunity as well as a business problem for companies that have opportunities but lack the talent to fill them. The Pluralsight One and Year Up partnership meets both these problems head-on, creating an accelerant for opportunity by empowering young adults with technology skills to access careers, grow as contributors and leaders, and in turn support the technology strategies of companies.
“Access to technology skills is one of the most powerful tools we have to create equality of opportunity in our technology-driven world, and by making Pluralsight available to Year Up students and graduates nationally we can ensure they have full agency over their lives and careers,” said Aaron Skonnard, co-founder and CEO of Pluralsight. “Pluralsight One exists to advance Pluralsight’s mission to democratize technology skills and I’m proud to partner with Year Up to increase equal access to technology skills for underserved young adults to close the Opportunity Divide.”
Year Up’s mission is to close the Opportunity Divide by ensuring that young adults gain the skills, experiences, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through careers and higher education. By accessing Pluralsight One’s resources, Year Up participants can develop the technology skills they need to flourish in their internships, move into full-time employment and thrive as they continue to build their careers over the years to come.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Pluralsight One to provide all our students and graduates — as well as our staff members — with free access to thousands of online courses and other tools that will help them hone their skills and stay up-to-date with the latest developments,” said Gerald Chertavian, Year Up Founder and CEO. “Through Pluralsight’s generous support, our young adults will be even better prepared to earn and grow meaningful careers at top companies across the US.”
The multi-year, national partnership with Year Up will support their staff's technology skills development as well as that of the young adults supported by their programming. Pluralsight One is providing a $12.3 million, three-year product grant that includes tech strategy development and access to 6,500 licenses to the Pluralsight platform for staff, students and alumni in year one; with an additional 4,500 licenses each in years two and three to support annual youth cohorts. In addition, Pluralsight One is supplementing the product-based investment with $100,000 in funding in 2019 to support Year Up's tech strategy and development.
About Pluralsight
Pluralsight is an enterprise technology skills platform that delivers a unified, end-to-end learning experience for businesses across the globe. Through a subscription service, companies are empowered to move at the speed of technology, increasing proficiency, innovation and efficiency. Founded in 2004 and trusted by Fortune 500 companies, Pluralsight provides members with on-demand access to a digital ecosystem of learning tools, including Pluralsight IQ, directed learning paths, expert-authored courses, interactive labs, and analytics. For more information, visit www.pluralsight.com.
About Pluralsight One
Pluralsight One is Pluralsight’s social enterprise. It is the company’s commitment to drive significant, lasting social impact by improving equal access to technology skills and investing in catalytic solutions. Pluralsight One Fund is a corporate advised fund at Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity registered in the United States, EIN# 20-5205488. For more information about Pluralsight One and the nonprofit product suite, visit www.pluralsightone.org.
About Year Up
Year Up is an award-winning, national 501(c)3 organization that enables motivated young adults ages 18-24 to move from minimum wage to meaningful careers in just one year by providing the skills, experience, and support they need to reach their full potential. Through a one-year, intensive program, Year Up utilizes a high-expectations, high-support model that combines marketable job skills, stipends, coursework eligible for college credit, and corporate internships at more than 250 top companies. Its holistic approach focuses on students’ professional and personal development to enable young adults with a viable path to economic self-sufficiency and meaningful careers. Year Up has served more than 24,000 young adults since its founding in 2000, and will serve more than 4,700 young adults in 2019 across 25 U.S. cities including Arizona, Baltimore, Bay Area, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Greater Atlanta, Greater Boston, Greater Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, the National Capital Region, New York City/Jersey City, Puget Sound, Rhode Island, South Florida, Tampa Bay, and Wilmington. Year Up has been voted one of the “Best Non-Profits to Work For” by The NonProfit Times for eight consecutive years, and rated a 4-star charity by Charity Navigator for twelve consecutive years, placing them in the top 1% of tracked organizations.
Media Contact
Pluralsight PR
Ben Veghte
Director, Communications
ben-veghte@pluralsight.com
Year Up
Lauren Peachey
Public Relations & Events Manager
lpeachey@yearup.org