Gerald Chertavian

Gerald Chertavian is the Founder and Senior Advisor of Year Up, a national non-profit organization that empowers underserved young adults to enter the economic mainstream. During his tenure as CEO, Year Up served more than 50,000 young adults, scaled to 30 cities and managed an annual operating budget of $180M. Independently conducted randomized controlled trials concluded that Year Up raised wages for low-income young adults more than any youth workforce program in US history. Year Up was recognized consistently as one of the nation's top 50 non-profits to work for by the Non-Profit Times and Gerald was named one of the Top CEOs in the U.S. SMB Category on Glassdoor.

In 2023, Gerald stepped down from Year Up as CEO and began teaching Social Entrepreneurship and Systems Change at Harvard Business School. Gerald earned a B.A. in Economics, Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, from Bowdoin College and in 2017 he was awarded the Bowdoin Common Good Award. He received his M.B.A., with honors, from Harvard Business School and in 2014 received the Distinguished Alumni Award. He has received honorary doctorates from William James College and Mount Ida College. Gerald is an Emeritus Trustee of Bowdoin College and a current Trustee of the Roxbury Community College Foundation and the Rowland Foundation. His 2012 book, A Year Up, is a New York Times best seller.