Crossposted from the DES Express

King County commits more than $1 million to continue paid internships and expand career opportunities for young adults through Year Up United.

Jonny Lopez, a former Year Up United intern, took the podium after some heavy hitters. John Stanton, chairman of the Seattle Mariners and Trilogy International Partners and founding chairman of the Year Up United Puget Sound Board, had addressed the crowd. Other Year Up and county leaders had spoken about the importance of internships and the successful partnership between the two organizations.

But it was Lopez who stole the show, speaking to the audience assembled on the seventh floor of the King Street Center on Feb. 2.

Lopez is a first-generation Mexican-American. He began cleaning construction sites with his dad at age 13. At night he worked in an Amazon warehouse.

“I remember looking at office buildings, watching people in meetings, protected from the rain, and wondering, ‘I wonder if I would ever belong in those spaces?’” Lopez said.

“As much as I wanted it to be, college wasn’t an option,” he added. “My family needed me. I had responsibilities. I had to support.”

“I wasn’t lacking ambition. I was lacking access,” he explained. “Then I found Year Up United.”

Lopez was in the first cohort of Year Up interns at King County in September of 2023. Soon after, he walked into King Street Center as an intern for the first time. Now he works as a project controls engineer for King County Metro. Read more.