Across the United States, Genesys Works is changing the career trajectory of thousands of high school students from underserved communities. Organizations like Genesys Works are intervening early — when students are in high school — to help them envision their future and set them up for success with technical and professional skills. Often, these teens are the first in their families to earn a college degree.
“We give them foundational skills to introduce them to working in the corporate world,” says Jeffrey Artis, CEO of Genesys Works. “It minimizes the trepidation and ‘fear’ of what the corporate environment might be like.”
The nonprofit was founded in 2002 by Rafael Alvarez, a corporate strategist and charter school board member, and has served over 10,000 students and counting. Alvarez recognized the opportunity to help youth find professional opportunities in the economic mainstream and refers to Genesys Works participants as students in the “quiet middle.” They are not struggling in school, and because of this, could be overlooked for opportunities that place them on a path toward postsecondary success.
Students are recruited during their junior year of high school to participate in the Genesys Works program. During the summer before their senior year, they complete an eight-week training program that includes professional skills development and technical training. After successfully completing training, students earn a year-long, part-time paid internship with one of the program’s business partners, gaining valuable work experience.
All participating students are required to be on track for graduation, and they must be available to work afternoons during their senior year — 20 hours per week, five days a week. They’re evaluated based on their drive to succeed, and are selected in cooperation with local school systems.
Gaining Valuable, On-the-Job Corporate Experience
Genesys Works is made possible by the corporate partners that hire participating students as interns. Students gain experience working with companies such as Accenture, JPMorgan Chase, Kirkland & Ellis, LLC. and Medtronic. The mutually beneficial relationship gives partner companies a cost-effective, high-value solution for getting essential jobs done.
According to Artis, this transformational experience helps students see potential opportunities they may never have been exposed to. It also helps them reconsider what they may want to study in college. And for teens from families who may have never had members working in the corporate world, it normalizes these environments before college ever begins.
“It lowers those barriers and reduces the fear,” Artis says. “It increases their confidence because after they’ve been there a year, they think, ‘Hey, I can do this.’”
Artis says the relationships students form with their employers and colleagues become part of their professional network.
Because Genesys Works is trying to change the trajectory of participating students’ lives, the nonprofit targets lower-income neighborhoods. Students are often on the free or reduced lunch program. According to Artis, seven-plus years after completing the program 68% of alums earn more than at least one of their parents, while 20% will make more than both parents combined.
Genesys Works students graduate at two and a half times the rate of their peers, Artis says, and more than 90% go on to college within six months of graduating high school. They know what credentials to pursue in college and recognize their potential to achieve their goals. And earn a median income of $60,000/year within a six-year trajectory.
For donors who may be interested in working with Genesys Works, the program operates in two unique ways. First, according to Artis, Genesys Works funds its core programming through earned revenue from the corporate partners who hire the students. This covers roughly 80% of the program’s operating costs. Second, the organization partners with philanthropic investors to fund the remaining 20% of the program’s costs and to support the organization’s growth. Because of this unique pairing of earned and contributed revenue, philanthropic support goes further.
A Life-Changing Path to Success
Roger Nicholson, senior vice president of services operations at Insperity, a corporation that helps small and medium-sized businesses streamline their HR functions, has been a longtime investor in Genesys Works. He recounts the story of his first intern from the program, a first-generation Mexican American who grew up in an underprivileged neighborhood and lacked access to job opportunities. The student rode the bus to Nicholson’s office for work each day.
“He said, ‘Mr. Nicholson, I’m the first person in my family that’s ever worked inside.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean, inside?’ [The student] said, ‘I’m the first person who’s ever had a job indoors, and that’s because of this internship. They taught me how to be part of a team, how to conduct myself, what I needed to do to be ready for work every day, how to be on time and all the things an employer would be looking for me to do. My family has never had the opportunity to do that.’”
This young man went on to work for Nicholson’s company for years afterward, including during his time in college.
“I became a believer,”Nicholson says. “They’re bright young people who are really ambitious, and they’re just looking for an opportunity.”
A First-Generation College Student and Corporate Employee
Born and raised in Oakland, California, Michelle Villagran participated in the Bay Area’s second Genesys Works cohort in 2014. At 16, she was looking for a job to help alleviate some of her parents’ financial stress. The economic opportunity was clear, but Villagran would soon realize the added benefits of participating in the program.
“I got more than just a paycheck I needed at the time,” she says. “[What I] gained was more significant than I expected.”
Villagran participated in two internships through Genesys Works, both during high school and college. Her second internship led to a full-time job offer at the company she worked for, and she has been part of that industry ever since.
The program taught Villagran and her fellow students tech skills, business communication, soft skills such as time management and networking and much more.
“The most valuable skill for me is putting myself out there and creating connections. I’m still in touch with my supervisor from my very first internship in high school. I’m still connecting with them and keeping in touch.”
Today, Villagran is a consultant who configures and implements project management information systems for the construction industry. She hopes to return to school to earn her MBA in the future. Currently, she’s participating in a Program Management Leadership of Tomorrow program to further her education.
“I’m a first-generation student,” she says. “I was the first in my family to navigate college and work in a corporate space. I had no idea that all these roles in technology existed.
“My life could have gone completely different, had I not gotten that exposure through the program. It gave me a clear direction early on to where, when I got to college, I knew exactly what I wanted to pursue.
“Genesys Works truly gave me that clear direction and exposure I needed, and I know it does that for other students as well. It’s really a great program.”
Root Cause, Not Remediation
Many job opportunity programs for students from underserved communities focus on remediation. Rather than trying to “fix” an individual or situation, Artis says Genesys Works stays focused on the root cause of the problem.
“Our program fundamentally thinks about it as an intervention,” Artis says. “If I can capture individuals at a critical juncture in their career, I can help them make better and different choices, so hopefully they never need remediation.”
According to Nicholson, part of Genesys Works’ uniqueness lies in its assembling of student cohorts. Rather than pursuing internships and opportunities in isolation, students work together as a group to grow their knowledge and skill sets. The program’s community aspect ensures no one walks the path alone.
“They form bonds with their cohort classmates, many of whom they’ll go on to intern with. The way they team with one another is really another part of the magic mix,” Nicholson says. “The Genesys Works staff does a terrific job in getting them ready for this kind of opportunity.”
Ultimately, in addition to creating opportunities for these young adults, Genesys Works aims to widen the talent pool available to American companies sooner rather than later. With possible worker shortages looming in the near future, Artis says it’s essential to think ahead about building a strategy for addressing future issues now.
“We’re focusing on the pool,” Artis says. “A pipeline is a short-term point of view. We’re focused on impact and solving what we think is the collective problem.
“There’s a whole population that can provide value to the corporate workplace. If people focus on expanding that pool of talent, everybody will win in that environment.”
Genesys Works currently operates in seven locations in addition to its headquarters in Houston: Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota; Chicago; the Bay Area; New York; Washington, D.C. and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Later in 2025, they will launch a Jacksonville, Florida, location and are looking to add more locations in the future.
“To be a part of that early career success and changing the trajectory of somebody’s life is really, really a cool thing,” Nicholson says.
If you have any questions about Genesys Works, please contact Pathways to Opportunity Program Director Stephen Allison here.
