Name: Kateryn Raymundo
Genesys Works: Class of 2014
Location: San Francisco, CA
Many families who leave Central America are trying to get their children a better education and a brighter future. Lack of educational opportunities was a factor in Kateryn’s family move from Guatemala when she was only eight years old. Her mother was determined to ensure she had access to the best education and enrolled her at George Washington High School in San Francisco. At the time, the family lived near Daly City, an hour and forty minutes away by bus to George Washington. Brimming with motivation, young Kateryn woke up at 5 a.m. to take two different buses to get to school. She watched professionals dressed up for work during her commute and began to imagine herself in their shoes.
For Kateryn, college seemed like the way to a different life. But she had no idea how to get there. During her junior year, Genesys Works visited her class and, soon after, opened doors to opportunity. Upon acceptance into the program, Kateryn quickly began to take control of her future. During skills training that summer, she learned how to confidently interact in workplace through corporate etiquette, public speaking, and more. “The program helped me create a network, and I think that has been the most valuable thing that Genesys Works could have ever done for me,” she shares. After much dedication and hard work, she navigated through the technology field, a male-dominated space, and received an internship at Salesforce on the desktop support team.
“I’m a first-generation college graduate, and I’ve paved the way for my siblings,” Kateryn said. “My parents are really proud.”
As a high school intern, her day-to-day responsibilities included troubleshooting employee computer issues. While in college, Kateryn returned as an intern three times before getting a contract position as a Data Analyst during her senior year of college. She became an Excel expert and discovered the importance of clean data. After delivering great work for her team, she began to shadowing sister teams within Marketing Operations. There, she gained an understanding of lead operations and began troubleshooting tickets. Suddenly, she owned processes, hosted meetings with stakeholders, solved key issues, and executed procedures.
Kateryn graduated from San Francisco State University last fall, and she was hired full-time at Salesforce. In her role as the Marketing Analyst on the Campaign and Global Operations team, she streamlines marketing operations across all regions to reduce global discrepancies. In addition, she helps automate campaign tracking, which includes cleaning and automating campaign hierarchy so that the right teams get credit for the right campaigns.
“That is one of the things I love about Salesforce,” Kateryn said. “People want you to be successful and love what you are doing. My manager helped me discover a position that fit my interests and skills…Having a good work ethic, delivering, being curious, and creating relationships at work helped me get converted to a full-time employee.”
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About Genesys Works
Genesys Works provides pathways to career success for high school students in underserved communities through skills training, meaningful work experiences, and impactful relationships. Our program consists of 8 weeks of technical and professional skills training, a paid year-long corporate internship, college and career coaching, and alumni support to and through college. Our goal is to move more students out of poverty and into professional careers, creating a more productive and diverse workforce in the process. Since its founding in 2002, Genesys Works has grown to serve nearly 4,000 students annually in Houston, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Washington’s National Capital Region. To learn more, visit genesysworks.org.
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