THANK YOU!
Thank you for attending Year Up Charlotte’s virtual graduation ceremony!
We hope you enjoyed celebrating this milestone moment with the graduates who made up our Class of Summer 2021 and their families! As we saw, our graduates delivered on Year Up’s mission to close the Opportunity Divide—the gap that exists between many young adults in our community and the economic mainstream.
Missed the event or want to re-watch it?
You can click here to view the recorded livestream at the Year Up Charlotte Facebook page.
Para obtener el guión de graduación traducido, presione aquí.
The Year Up Charlotte Graduation Ceremony will be a virtual event streamed through Facebook Premiere on the Charlotte Facebook page below.
- The event will start promptly at 6:00 PM ET. We encourage you to open the Charlotte Facebook page 5-10 minutes early. The video will appear on our main Facebook page and you will not need a direct access link.
- If you follow the Charlotte Facebook page, you should receive a notification that we are premiering the event soon.
- You are not required to have a Facebook account to watch the premiere, though you do need to be signed into an account to set a reminder and post comments or reactions.
Graduation Program
Student Host Welcome
Steven Rios, Year Up Intern at Bank of America
Student Keynote Welcome
Jackie Rivera, Year Up Intern at Bank of America
Keynote Address
Dena Diorio President,
Mecklenburg County Manager
Awards Presentation
Elise Ford, Site Director,
Year Up Charlotte
Kwain Bryant, Recruitment Manager,
Year Up Charlotte
Adam Bailey, Year Up Intern at
Bank of America
Cameron Lawrence, Year Up Intern at
Wells Fargo
Presentation of Certificates
Cory Bennett, Professional Learning Coach,
Year Up Charlotte
Erika Potts, Associate Director of Program,
Year Up Charlotte
Alumni Oath
Lizette Gomez, Year Up Graduate 2020
Business Control Specialist, Bank of America
Ronda Thompson, Chief Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Officer, & Founding National Director of Alumni Relations
Closing Remarks
Sakara Sharp, Year Up Intern at Bank of America
Keynote Speakers
Jackie Rivera
Year Up Intern at Bank of America
Dena Diorio
Mecklenburg County Manager
Site Director Letter
Congratulations to Year Up Charlotte Graduates!
It is such an honor to come together to celebrate your accomplishments. When you made the decision to join Year Up, you made a commitment to yourself. You knew that you had the drive and the talent. You knew that with a little coaching and an open door, you could prove yourself in a Corporate Internship.
Our time together full of feedback, classwork, presentations, and Zoom calls—you channeled this training and you showed up ready to learn and work on your internship. Your grit and determination is paying off—you are accepting employment in the area you studied, you are expanding your knowledge by continuing your education, and you are interviewing for careers that might have felt unobtainable a year ago.
On behalf of the Year Up Charlotte staff, I want to share how proud we are of you. We are honored to have walked alongside you. You listened to the guidance and advice and made it your own. We are beaming with pride.
Your time with Year Up is not over. You are now part of the 20,000-strong Year Up alumni community. It’s your turn to volunteer and be a guest speaker, it’s your turn to provide feedback to an intern to help them develop their professionalism, and it’s your turn to hire a future graduate. Lift while you climb!
Thank you to our partners, volunteers, supporters, families, and friends for your commitment to closing the Opportunity Divide and for having an unwavering belief in the potential of our young adults. You have made Year Up Charlotte successful and provided a runway for many more people.
With great admiration,
Elise Ford
Site Director, Year Up Charlotte
Award Winners
Cornerstone Award
Wells Fargo Technology Early Talent Leadership - Charlotte
Manager Award
Titus Sandy
Assistant Vice President, Operations Control, Bank of America
Alumni Oath
I PLEDGE that as a member of the Year Up National Alumni Association, I will continue to uphold and promote Year Up’s mission and core values. I will strive for excellence and realize my potential. I will use my time and talents to contribute to the success of Year Up, its students, and its alumni. I will take action in the movement to close the Opportunity Divide. I take this oath freely, as a promise to lift while I climb, and to be a lifelong ambassador of Year Up.
Thank You to our National Sponsors
Thank you to our National Community Partners
Copyright © 2021 Year Up, Inc.