New York Life and Year Up provide opportunities for diverse young professionals.

New York Life recently celebrated our ongoing partnership with the nonprofit organization Year Up United through a special event that underscored our commitment to empowering young adults.

Year Up focuses on closing the opportunity gap for young adults aged 18 to 29 who may lack access to higher education or traditional career pathways and provides participants with a combination of professional skills training, internships at leading companies, and mentoring. Since 2012, New York Life has hosted more than 330 interns and hired over 130 of them to date.

Victor Verastegui, head of service at Group Benefit Solutions (GBS), opened the event, representing the business that is now welcoming its second cohort of Year Up United interns to GBS’s Dallas service operations.

“Growing up in a small community in South Texas, I didn’t have role models to guide me into corporate America. I was the first in my family to follow this path,” Verastegui said. “Year Up United is providing the guidance for young people to break down barriers and find paths to success.”

Hiring based on skills rather than credentials

The highlight of the event was the screening of the documentary available on Netflix, called: "Untapped: Closing America’s Opportunity Gap.” The film follows six Year Up United participants on their path to internships at Fortune 500 companies. It highlights the value of skills-based hiring — where talent is recognized for ability rather than credentials — and sheds light on the systemic barriers many face in the workplace.

Following the film, a panel discussion delved into the documentary’s themes. Moderated by Randy Moore of the private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice, the panel included Head of HR Business Enablement and Chief Diversity Officer Kathleen Navarro, Year Up United alum Tiffany Rodriguez of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, and Untapped director Josh Kahn. They highlighted the crucial role of skills-first hiring practices in building a diverse and effective workforce.

“A skills-first focus opens up and diversifies the candidate pool by focusing on candidates’ abilities and relevant skills instead of narrow educational and background requirements,” said Navarro. “Employees are the ones delivering outcomes every day, so tapping into their skills and unique perspectives creates an environment where innovation thrives, teams collaborate more effectively, and businesses perform better.”