When TIME spoke with Garrett in May, he was in Chicago for one of the organization’s graduation events. A current student recounted what went into his decision to take part in the program: although he hesitated initially to give up eight weeks of summer for training, he had a sense that it could change his life. “He graduates this weekend,” Garrett says, “and next week he's going to start as an 18-year-old with a full-time job with the same company, making $70,000 a year.”
In February, Genesys Works added Nashville to the list of cities it serves (others include Houston, Chicago, New York City, and California’s Bay Area). Garrett sees this as just the start. “I can look and see five years from now—instead of being in nine markets, we'll probably be in 20 or more,” he says. “Every young person in this country needs access to Genesys Works.”
Garrett most recently served as executive vice president and chief revenue officer at the global nonprofit United Way Worldwide, whose network distributes billions of dollars of donations to various local initiatives annually. He understands firsthand how internships can be transformative for talented people who lack access to opportunities. “It shifted my mindset around what was actually possible,” he says of the internship he completed in high school. “Some of my mentors to this day are folks I met during that internship.”
Beyond market expansion, Garrett is focused on ensuring the program’s model keeps pace with the times. AI is changing entry-level work, and more companies now operate remotely. Corporate demand has varied across industries over time, he says, with Genesys’ placements becoming less concentrated in traditional tech-support roles and increasing in areas like healthcare and construction. Even so, he says, companies like the internet infrastructure and cloud computing provider Cloudflare have extended their partnership commitments—reflecting a belief that the technology will change the nature of these roles without outright eliminating them.
Genesys Works’ program has no shortage of applicants. The bigger challenge is continuing to secure corporate partners. “It's hard for some folks to wrap their minds around that a 17- or 18-year-old can deliver great quality, meaningful work in a business environment,” Garrett says. “But the students we see in Genesys Works know that this could be a life-changing opportunity. They're not going to meet the demand or expectation you have—they’re going to exceed it.”
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