Like all of our students, Joseph entered The Upward Project in 2018 as a recent high school graduate who was about to become a first-generation college student. He came from a low-income family that did not have access to the social and professional networks that would help him get ahead in his target career: software engineering.

That’s where The Upward Project picked up the slack. Beginning the summer before he enrolled in college, we helped Joseph develop and execute a plan designed to land the job that he’s now been offered. We pushed him to gain hands-on coding experience during the summer after his freshman year—he helped his college’s astronomy department build a website and then earned a position as a computer science TA—so that he would be a more competitive summer intern applicant the following year. 

By the spring of his sophomore year, we were able to place him in an internship with our corporate partner Maark. They were lucky to have him and they invited Joseph back for another internship the summer after his junior year. He earned $11,000 for his work that summer.

During the fall, we acted as his unofficial agent, helping to secure the offer from Maark and negotiate terms. Now Joseph is set. He is a skilled professional in a booming industry and he will make nearly $70,000 in his first year, in addition to receiving exceptionally good benefits and stock options.

Outcomes like Joseph’s are exactly what The Upward Project was designed to produce. His success is one example of how our programming is working overall. Consider making a donation to help us replicate Joseph’s success for our current and future Scholars.