Working Together to Innovate and Bridge the Opportunity Divide

By Ed Hutner, Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Deltek

At Deltek, we embrace several core values, including integrity, innovation and curiosity. These values shape how we as employees relate to each other, our partners, and our customers as our global company continues to grow.  But how can we innovate without investing in the future? And how can we encourage curiosity without providing learning opportunities to those who need them most?

We asked ourselves these very questions as we set out to plan our corporate philanthropy strategy. One of the most rewarding results has been an eight-year partnership with the nonprofit organization Year Up. Year Up works to close the opportunity divide by providing urban young adults with the skills, experience and support to achieve professional careers and higher education. For many participants, Year Up provides their first exposure to working in an office.

Through our partnership, Year Up places program participants as interns at Deltek’s corporate headquarters in Herndon, Virginia. They work across our business units – in IT, Finance, Marketing, Sales and Customer Care – gaining valuable experience and, in turn, providing meaningful contributions to our team.

What started with one intern has grown into the Deltek Year Up Cohort Program, with up to seven interns per “semester.” This year, we welcomed our 50^th intern to the program to date, reflecting not only a monetary investment but also a time commitment from dozens of our colleagues. Many participating interns have been hired by Deltek as full-time, entry level employees following the completion of their Year Up program.

This spring, I was honored to accept Year Up’s Pete Kuchli Urban Empowerment Award in recognition of Deltek’s ongoing partnership with Year Up. As executive sponsor of our program, it has been my privilege to drive fundraising, volunteering and mentoring opportunities for this remarkable initiative.

This recent honor reflects Deltek’s commitment to an organization that provides our company with a talent-ready source of skilled individuals needed to compete in today’s high-tech environment. We look forward to not only continuing our collaboration with Year Up, but also encourage other companies to commit to roles for interns so they too can realize the significant impact Year Up can provide their businesses.

What can Year Up interns bring to your company? Enthusiasm, technology skills, hard work and a fresh perspective are just some of the benefits that we have experienced first-hand from participating in this program.

Deltek’s latest class of Year Up interns is preparing to graduate in June; I am confident that a bright future awaits all of these outstanding young adults. As we prepare to celebrate their milestone, I find their achievements to be particularly meaningful. Their future is our future – and we are all called to ensure that it is a bright one.

To learn more about Year Up and how your company can get involved, visit YearUp.org.