Founded in 1973, Youth Employment Partnership operates one of the highest-performing youth workforce development programs in the San Francisco Bay Area, having served more than 34,500 low-income, high-risk young people in Oakland, with more than 85% completing their training and 78% placed in employment and/or advanced education.
YEP’s mission is to improve the employment and education outcomes for Oakland youth and young adults impacted by poverty, the justice system, foster care, homelessness, school underachievement and other barriers to work by providing transformative job training, critical skill building, and contextualized education paired with hands-on work experience in a living classroom.
YEP operates a comprehensive menu of employment training and career development programs which serve approximately 500-600 transitional aged youth each year. By combining employability soft skills training, vocational training in high-demand occupations, paid work experience paired with high school credit recovery and tutoring, and comprehensive case management and support services, our programs have developed a prominent track record of improving academic performance, increasing college access, and securing long-term employment. In addition to preparing youth for careers, school graduation and higher education, our programs are proven to reduce rates of crime, violence, and recidivism.