Gael Mendoza was part of the first cohort of Genesys Works NYC in 2019 and is the first NYC alum to be hired fulltime by a Genesys Works Corporate Partner. Gael joined CIBC as a Help Desk Support Analyst in November 2023 after graduating from Monroe College a year early.
Gael’s resume is robust. After completing GWNYC’s eight-week Summer Training, he stepped into his year-long paid GWNYC internship in Mizuho’s IT department. Through the internship, he troubleshooted user computers, reimaged laptops, learned various IT applications, and improved his customer service skills. He then went onto enroll in Monroe College to study Cyber Security. While a college student, Gael interned as a project coordinator at CBRE at Google and as an IT intern at CIBC through Genesys Works NYC.
Gael credits GWNYC for helping begin his career in the IT field. Summer Training developed foundational professional and technical skills for him to comfortably step into his internship at Mizuho, “I learned a lot of business skills such as time management, project management, working as a team, networking, workplace etiquette, and the most important one to me was public speaking.” He adds, “I appreciated the early exposure to a corporate workplace. I was able to build on what I learned at Mizuho into my college internship here at CIBC.”
This is a big milestone for both Gael and GWNYC. Executive Director Mike Gross shares “Our Corporate Partners are looking for full-time talent that can be successful in today’s workplaces – workplaces that require teamwork, flexibility, and fast-paced problem solving. Gael built those skills throughout his Genesys Works NYC internship experiences, and CIBC recognized the value he was adding to their IT team when he interned with the firm. I am so proud of Gael for all of his accomplishments, and I deeply appreciate our partners at CIBC for their vision and understanding that while talent is equally distributed, opportunity is not.”
As we graduate our fifth high school cohort this year, Genesys Works NYC is committed to supporting our alumni in finding meaningful fulltime roles earning family sustaining wages. If you would like to learn more about investing in early career experiences to prepare your future workforce, reach out to us at info.nyc@genesysworks.org.
About Genesys Works NYC
Genesys Works’ mission is to provide pathways to career success for high school students in underserved communities through skills training, meaningful work experiences, and impactful relationships. Students enter as a rising high school senior at the beginning of our program model, which consists of: Summer Training, Year-Long Paid Internships, College and Career Coaching, and Alumni Support.
