First Workings

What First Workings does

First Workings is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered at 20 W 22nd Street in Manhattan, New York, founded in 2015 by Kevin Davis (formerly Chief Executive of Man Financial). The organization runs a community-led program delivering paid summer internships, workplace readiness training, and one-on-one mentorship to high-achieving high school juniors from underserved NYC communities — particularly in Harlem and the Bronx — alongside long-term alumni support through college and into early careers. Its core service bundle comprises interactive virtual workshops (communication, networking, interview skills, financial literacy, workplace etiquette, diversity), a paid two-week internship matched to each student's industry interest, and matched mentorship with professionals. Since inception the program has served 540 students across cohorts in partnership with 19 NYC high schools (including Democracy Prep, Harlem Village Academies, and KIPP NYC) and 90+ corporate placement partners spanning finance, engineering, law, media, healthcare, and technology.

The operating model is donation-driven: the organization monetizes via tiered individual sponsorships ($300 Supporter, $1,000 Mentor, $10,000 Champion, $30,000 Cohort Sponsor, $5,000 Face-to-Face), foundation grants (notably $300,000 from BlueCrest Capital Management and $10,000 from Newman's Own Foundation), virtual fundraising events, and in-kind corporate contributions (companies pay interns minimum wage during the two-week placement and may sponsor students or host workshops). The go-to-market is direct: school counselors identify and recruit eligible juniors, applications flow through the website, and corporate partnerships are brokered via the Founder's Wall Street network and the Advisory Board program. Distribution is concentrated in a single geography (NYC) with a 2021-announced London extension whose post-2024 status is unconfirmed.

In 2024 the organization announced the suspension of its 2024–2025 high school internship, mentorship, and workplace readiness programs and pivoted exclusively to supporting college-level and college-graduate alumni with college-prep coaching, paid internships after their first year of college, and post-graduation employment opportunities. Reported outcomes remain a key credibility asset — 100% college acceptance, 75% bachelor's completion within four years (against ~25% national average for first-generation low-income students), 10% Ivy League placement, and 55% acceptance to Barron's "Most Competitive Colleges" — supported by a board composed of senior Wall Street, law, real estate, and recruitment executives.

Name

First Workings

Legal name

First Workings Inc.

Website

https://firstworkings.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

First Workings is a NYC-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs paid summer internships, workplace readiness training, and one-on-one mentorship for high-achieving high school students from underserved NYC communities, partnering with 19 schools and 90+ corporate employers; following a 2024 pivot, it now focuses exclusively on its ~200 college and alumni members.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Workforce Development and Education Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Professional and Management Development Training (611430)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Internship-to-Apprenticeship & Early Talent Pipeline Programs (EDAMAKAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Apprenticeships, Internships & Work-Based Learning Programs (BPACANAK), After-School, Tutoring & Academic Enrichment Nonprofits (BPAGADAC), Work-Based Learning Programs (Internships, Apprenticeships, Community-Based Instruction) (EDAKANAF), Remote/Hybrid Work Readiness & Digital Collaboration (EDAAAKAL)

Keywords

• Youth workforce development
• Paid internship programs
• Workplace readiness training
• Professional mentorship services
• College access programs

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations and Sponsorships: Individual donors support the organization through tiered sponsorship levels ranging from $300 to $30,000, with different benefits including Supporter, Mentor, and Champion titles. Donations fund student stipends, metro card stipends, professional development, and cohort sponsorship.
2. Foundation Grants: First Workings receives grants from foundations such as Newman’s Own Foundation ($10,000) and BlueCrest Capital Management ($300,000) to support program development and intern empowerment.
3. Corporate Partner Support: Companies pay interns minimum wage during the two-week internship period and may sponsor students or host workshops and events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

First Workings delivers a unified nonprofit program combining virtual workplace readiness workshops, paid two-week summer internships, and one-on-one mentorship for high-achieving high school students from underserved NYC communities. Services include professional skills training, career interest-matched internship placements with corporate partners, ongoing mentorship matching with industry professionals, and long-term alumni support through college application assistance and post-graduation career access.

Product overview

First Workings is a nonprofit organization offering a unified program that combines workplace readiness training, paid summer internships, and mentorship services for high-achieving high school students from underserved NYC communities. The core offering integrates five interactive virtual workshops, a two-week paid internship matched to students' career interests, and ongoing one-on-one mentorship with industry professionals. The program also includes comprehensive alumni support with college preparation and career access services. The organization has recently pivoted from high school programming to focus exclusively on college-level and college graduate alumni, while maintaining mentorship and internship opportunities for this expanded demographic.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• High School Summer Internship Program Paid two-week summer internship experience matching high-achieving high school juniors from underserved NYC communities with companies across various industries, tailored to each student's career interests. Students are paid minimum wage during the internship period, with employers covering wages.
• Workplace Readiness Training Virtual workshop curriculum covering communication, networking, interview skills, hard and soft skills identification, values and boundaries, diversity in the workplace, financial literacy, and workplace etiquette. Includes up to four enrichment workshops monthly from industry partners.
• Mentorship Program One-on-one mentorship matching students with industry professionals in their intended career field for ongoing guidance and career navigation support throughout high school and beyond.
• Alumni Network and Programming Continued support for program graduates including college application assistance, essay coaching, letters of recommendation, networking opportunities, career access training workshops, paid internship connections after the first year of college, and employment opportunities after graduation.
• First Workings London Mentorship Expansion of the First Workings mentorship model to London, providing mentorships for under-resourced high school students in the United Kingdom.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% of First Workings alumni attend college, compared to 46% of low-income students nationally
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• First Workings LondonminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 September 2021First Workings announced expansion to London to provide mentorships for under-resourced high school students, bringing the program's model to a new geography.
• Mount Sinai's Center for Scientific DiversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 April 2021Partnership to connect underrepresented high school students to careers in STEM. Mount Sinai provides mentorship and internship opportunities in healthcare and scientific research fields.
• SThreecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRecruitment company that has helped First Workings innovate and expand professional training. SThree employees volunteered to conduct training sessions covering resume writing, networking skills, and commercial acumen for interns.
• PJT PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with First Workings to help innovate and expand professional training programs for students and alumni.
• Doyle Fund ManagementcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate internship partner that has hosted First Workings interns. CEO provided testimonial praising the partnership and the value interns bring to their organization.
• RAND EngineeringcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEngineering firm that has served as internship partner. Supervisor testimonial highlights the refreshing engagement and willingness to work hard from First Workings interns.
• Beneville StudioscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreative studio that has hosted First Workings interns for project-based work, relying on intern insights and feedback for projects.
• Herrick, FeinsteincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLaw firm that has served as internship partner, providing exposure to legal careers and professional development opportunities for students.
• MidOcean PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrivate equity firm with board member Candice Richards representing the firm. Also featured in Forbes article profiling mentor-mentee success story with Graham Clempson and Destiny Fernandez.
• Mintz LevincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLaw firm with board member LisaMarie Collins serving as Partner. Represents legal industry engagement on First Workings board.
• Cortec GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInvestment firm with board member Jeff A. Lipsitz representing the firm on First Workings board of directors.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Year Up: Year Up is a direct peer providing workforce training, paid internships, and mentorship for young adults from underserved communities. Its longer, more intensive program structure and broader employer network make it a natural benchmark for First Workings' paid-internship-plus-mentorship model.
• Per Scholas: Per Scholas provides tuition-free technical skills training and career development for adults from underserved communities. While its focus is tech, the combination of wraparound support, employer partnerships, and career placement mirrors First Workings' approach to social-capital and workforce-readiness delivery.
• Posse Foundation: Posse identifies and develops diverse cohorts of high-achieving students from underserved communities for college and career success. Its leadership-development curriculum, cohort-based mentorship, and college-completion support directly parallel First Workings' high-school-to-college-to-career pipeline.
• Bottom Line: Bottom Line provides college access and success coaching for first-generation students from low-income backgrounds. Its intensive one-on-one coaching model and outcome metrics (college graduation rates for first-gen students) are directly comparable to First Workings' mentorship-driven outcomes.
• INROADS: INROADS places high-achieving students from underrepresented communities into paid corporate internships and leadership development. Its internship-placement model with corporate partners (finance, consulting, tech) is the closest structural analog to First Workings' paid-summer-internship program.
• iMentor: iMentor pairs low-income high school students with college-educated mentors for college-success support. Its one-on-one virtual mentorship model and emphasis on college persistence align with First Workings' virtual workplace readiness curriculum and ongoing alumni mentorship.

Regional players

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City: BBBS NYC provides one-on-one youth mentorship in the New York City area. While broader in scope (not specifically college or career focused), it competes for similar volunteer mentors, corporate partnerships, and youth-development funding in the same NYC geography as First Workings.

Emerging players

• KIPP NYC: KIPP NYC is one of First Workings' named partner high schools (alongside Democracy Prep and Harlem Village Academies). It shares the same underserved-NYC-student base and is a feeder for First Workings' recruitment, making it both a customer and an adjacent provider of college-prep services.
• CareerSpring: CareerSpring provides career-launch support for low-income, first-generation college students - including resume coaching, interview prep, and employer connections. Its focus on the post-college career-access stage directly maps to First Workings' post-2024 alumni-focused programming pivot.
• New York Needs You: NYNY runs a career-accelerator program for first-generation college students in NYC, combining mentorship, career training, and employer networking. Its NYC focus, cohort model, and employer-partner network make it a regional peer aligned with First Workings' alumni-support direction.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/firstworkings

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about First Workings