HOUSTON, October 23, 2017 – Genesys Works is celebrating its first 15 years by launching the “15 for 15” campaign, a series of stories that highlight a program graduate from each year since its inception. The many faces of Genesys Works’ alumni serve as proof points of the program’s success, as well as reminders of why the program exists.
One such inspirational story is that of Mayra Perez who participated in the second class of Genesys Works. Mayra came to the United States when she was 10 and struggled to see how she could fit in as an immigrant. Despite dreaming of a professional career someday, Mayra felt that as an immigrant she had two strikes against her – the color of her skin and her accent. It wasn’t until meeting Genesys Works Founder and CEO, Rafael Alvarez, that she realized she had the opportunity and the power to change her future. “I always knew I needed to do better than my family had, but I never thought working in a Fortune 500 company was part of that,” Mayra said.
Mayra joined the Genesys Works program and did her high school internship at Reliant Energy. She went on to attend college and is now a System Analyst for Baker Botts, a prominent international law firm with an office in Houston. Her story is just one of thousands of alumni, who like her, participated in Genesys Works and have found personal success. Click here to view the feature profile video for Mayra. And, click here to get to know the “15 for 15” alumni.
Genesys Works has served nearly 6,000 students in its 15-year history of transforming the lives of youth from underserved communities, and this achievement was recognized on October 17, 2017, at the Genesys Works 15th Anniversary Celebration Dinner in Houston, Texas. View photos from the event here.
The program’s impact has increased as the organization has expanded to additional locations across the country. Since it was founded in 2002, Genesys Works has grown to serves eight cities in five major metro areas (Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Chicago, San Francisco Bay Area and Washington D.C.’s National Capital Region).
For the next three weeks, you can view stories and videos from our “15 for 15” campaign on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Follow Genesys Works on social media to watch these success stories as they are shared in real time.
