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>View discussions about this entry Country: United States
Organization: Genesys Works
Year the initative began (yyyy) - 2002
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Project URL: http://www.genesysworks.org
Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions
Describe your program or new idea in one sentence. - Genesys Works trains and hires low-income high school students to work as TECHNICAL PROFESSIONALS in Fortune 500 companies and discover what real success feels like.
What makes your initiative uniquely positioned to create change in your community? - Genesys Works changes the culture in schools, in families and in student's minds. We dispell the notion that low-income students should be relegated to minimum wage jobs. By training them on what they need to know to successfully provide value in corporations as technical professionals we allow them to experience a world that they did not know was within reach. We raise expectations, arm students with the knowledge and support they need and provide them with the opportunity to experience real success in a major corporation. As a result, in just 14 months they change their view of what they can accomplish in a career, right before they leave high school, just in time to change their life's path. Over 90 percent of graduates go to college. Corporations on the other hand value the technical services our students provide and therefore are willing to pay for them, which makes the program largely self-sustained. Most of the Fortune 500 companies in Houston now utilize Genesys Works.
Describe how you organize and carry out your work? - We are the bridge between schools and businesses. We recruit in schools and train students over the summer months before their senior year. Then we hire them and assign them to one of our clients, where they will work during the afternoons for a full year. During this time we also work with them on performance, teamwork, and college access. Students develop life-changing mentorship roles with their work supervisors.
What is your plan to scale and expand your innovation into your community and beyond? - To expand in Houston we started new career areas: engineering drafting in 2006 and accounting in 2008. In addition, Genesys Works' founder is an active participant in the educational thought leadership of the city with the hope that the school system at large adopts a culture of high expectations. Genesys Works has now began a national expansion by starting operations in Minneapolis / St. Paul in January of 2008. This site is serving as an expansion pilot. Other cities will open starting in 2009 with the benefit of the knowledge gained.
What other resources, institutional, or policy needs would be necessary to help sustain and scale up your idea? - Resources: financial support to open multiple sites around the U.S.
Institutional: all major companies throughout the U.S. embracing the win-win nature of the model and engaging youth througout all areas Policy: allow for true relevance to come into the classroom by eliminating policy that requires schools to prepare their students to just pass a standardize test. The current policy fails to emotionally engage students in the learning process which results in high drop out rates and low expectations. Describe your impact in one sentence, commenting on both the individual and community levels. - Students come to discover that they can succeed as professionals and live a much better lifestyle, which breaks the cycle of poverty within their family.
What impact has your work achieved to date? - Over 200 students have gone through our program. Over 90 percent of graduates go to college and succeed there.
School districts are now realizing that their students can perform in the workplace at a much higher level. Inner-city schools are using Genesys Works to set the example for other students. The founder, Rafael Alvarez, is often asked to speak in conferences about varying topics including the self-sustainability model, social entrepreneurship, changing mindsets, etc.
What measure do you use to gauge your impact and why? - The main one is college attendance because almost all of our students are first generation and have little or no support from home. Attending and succeeding in college shows us that they really want the professional lifestyle and are willing to work hard for it. Most of our graduates have to work to help pay for college and/or living expenses and, with their experience at Genesys Works they are able to get $15/hr technical jobs while in college.
How is your initiative currently being financed and how would you finance further expansion and/or replication? - Houston is currently 83 percent self-sustained from the earned income received from the corporations in which students work. The rest comes from the large foundations. This self-sustainability model has been well received from funders. The model for each expansion site has the site starting at 25 % self-sustainabily the first year and arriving at around 85% in the third year of operation.
Provide information on your current finances and organization: - a. annual budget
b. annual revenue c. sources of revenue (please provide percentages if known) d. number of staff (full-time, part-time, and volunteers) 2008 budget: $2.4 million of which $1.8 million is from earned income. Staff Houston: 11 FT, 3 PT Staff Minneapolis/St. Paul: 2 FT Volunteers: 100 Who are your potential partners and allies? - Genesys Works is the bridge between schools and businesses. Therefore they are both are partners engaged in win-win relationships.
Who are your potential investors? - Large foundations and companies interested in innovative social enterprises.
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story. - The idea for Genesys Works first came to Rafael Alvarez at a local Houston high school graduation ceremony when many of the graduates revealed their post-high school plans were to continue working in their current minimum wage positions. He saw the students had little potential for growth, yet Rafael was convinced they could excel given the right opportunity. He believed that if those same students could be placed in a professional environment during their senior year of high school, it would drive the critical decision of what they would do after graduation, and thereby impact their careers and lives.
From his experience with Compaq, Rafael also knew the incredible demand for entry-level IT staffing and services in major corporations. With a plan to train students on both technical skills and professional behavior, Rafael looked to partner with major corporations and offer these services cost-competitively, providing powerful incentive for corporations to partner with Genesys over the long-term. To offer the opportunity to as many students as possible on a yearly basis, a rotational program was established which served as an incubator of professionals. Rafael engaged one Fortune 500 company in 2002. Now, most of the Fortune 500 companies in Houston engage Genesys Works to serve their entry-level technical jobs. Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material. - For his work as a social entrepreneur, Rafael Alvarez was inducted into the Ashoka Fellowship in 2006, and prior to that he was awarded the national Champion Award for Outstanding Technology Leaders by the CTCNet in Washington D.C. Genesys Works received the Houston CIO Executive Summit Nonprofit Award in 2005 and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Johnson & Johnson National Medal in 2007.
Rafael holds a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering and a M.S. in Engineering Management Contact Information:
Rafael Alvarez
Founder and President Genesys Works (Not-for-profit organization) Discussions about this entry |
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Genesys Summary no pic 2008 v1.doc |
Hello Rafael, It is great to see your entry in the competition. The work that you're doing with Genesys is really exciting. Its great to hear that you are working on expansion to some other locations so that you can have an even greater impact. It seems as though you have a developed a great model for sustainability. You mention that "Houston in currently 83 percent self-sustained from th earned income received from the corporations in which students work." What exactly does this mean? Does the pay that the students receive go back into Genyses? Or, do the students keep what they earn?
Thanks Rafael!
Dana Frasz
Changemakers
Students work for Genesys Works who in turn places them to perform services at corporations. Just like any other service provider, Genesys Works bills the companies on an hourly basis. Because the students are trained in both technical as well as professional skills, they provide a service that the companies value and are willing to pay for. The students are paid a fair wage (more than what their non-Genesys friends are making) and the additional margin goes to pay for program support and training. The companies receive a professional-level service that they value, get charged for, and therefore challenge the students with real tasks that in turn help the students grow. Not only that, but they actually get to save money compared to the cost of the same service by a for-profit. Given that the students add value, increase morale, and companies save money, our clients stay engaged with us year after year, requesting more students every time.
This model is the basis for our sustainability, both financial and programmatic. Being able to count on companies to pay for the services and feel like they are benefiting both themselves as well as the students secures our steady growth and provides a financial stream that can be counted on.
Because the training and support required for our students to truly "brake barriers" is high, our earned income doesn't pay for 100% of our expenses, but 83% is still very high.