The world's largest alternative asset manager, through its philanthropic arm, the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, recently announced the allocation of these funds to support for three more years the initiative of Year Up, one of the non-profit organizations of impactful workforce development programs in the country and a leading partner in Blackstone Career Pathways, the company's signature career and economic mobility program.

The grant will accelerate the growth of Year Up's Career Accelerator, which works in partnership with nonprofits and community colleges to provide rapid, targeted skills training, and talent pipelines for employers.

Marcus Felder, Head of Blackstone Career Pathways, stated:

This isn’t just about getting somebody a job; it’s about supporting their development and providing opportunities for coaching and training so they can have thriving careers. I’m thrilled to be expanding this program and, in doing so, expanding the number of individuals whose careers we can positively impact.

supporting diversity

Developed to foster economic mobility and support ongoing diversity efforts with the potential to add value to its more than 250 portfolio companies and more than 12,000 real estate assets, Blackstone Career Pathways, which expects to expand the program to 20 of its companies by the end of of the year, is also seeking to expand access to entry mid-level jobs, while facilitating advancement within those positions for diverse and historically underrepresented talent.

“Implementing company programs to enable the recruitment and development of diverse talent builds not only thriving careers, but also creates broader talent pools and more resilient companies. Blackstone Career Pathways importantly builds on the success of our Veterans Hiring Initiative, through which more than 100,000 veterans, veteran spouses and caregivers have been hired across Blackstone portfolio companies since 2013,” said Joe Baratta, Global Head of Private Equity at Blackstone. 

Blackstone prioritizes diversity within its organization and across its portfolio through a variety of initiatives, including its goal that one-third of board seats at newly acquired U.S. and European companies be filled by diverse candidates after that Blackstone has a majority stake.

At today’s inaugural #BXCareerPathways Summit, we discussed strategies to drive career mobility for historically underrepresented talent across our portfolio. $BX's Marcus Felder outlined the value of creating employment & development opportunities to strengthen our companies. pic.twitter.com/EOrbvWq504

— Blackstone (@blackstone) October 14, 2022

associations

To conduct its talent search, Year Up Career Accelerator is supported by community colleges and other training organizations to offer comprehensive and upskilling support, connecting young adults with employers looking to hire and supporting job placement.

“Year Up is excited to partner with Blackstone to significantly expand the Career Accelerator and continue to provide shorter, more flexible training options to better meet employers and young adults where they are,” noted Gerald Chertavian, Year Up Founder and CEO.

It also offers the Blackstone LaunchPad program, to which a capital of $40 million was injected to support minority-serving institutions and community colleges to reach more students.

The program, which equips students with skills to better prepare them for their career journeys, is present on more than 50 campuses nationwide.

Reactions 

“At Blackstone, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to reach their full potential. The Blackstone Charitable Foundation’s new partnership with Year Up complements the important progress of Blackstone Career Pathways to work from the ground up to increase employment opportunities and career mobility for individuals from diverse and historically under-represented communities,” expressed Maura Pally, Executive Director of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation. 

“By leveraging some of Year Up’s greatest strengths — our professional skills training, our wraparound support services, and our relationships with employers — the Career Accelerator enables us to connect many more young people in need of an opportunity with companies in need of their talent,” added Chertavian.