Youth Enrichment Services, Inc. (YES) is a 501c3 nonprofit serving Pittsburgh and Allegheny County since 1994. YES provides socially and economically at risk youth the opportunity to achieve success through participation in mentorship, education, and enrichment programs. YES seeks to empower communities to become their own best resource. The catalyst for YES’ grass roots approach to youth empowerment is an innovative mentorship model through which participants graduate through increasingly more applied levels of peer mentorship before having the opportunity to join YES’ staff as summer college interns and then full time employees after they complete their undergraduate college experience. By doing so YES aims to provide consistent and case-specific levels of support that naturally transitions ownership of the mentorship experience to increasingly empowered and dedicated youth participants.