Nonprofit enters Twin Cities; VC vet to lead local branch - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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The nonprofit, which provides technology and professional training forunderprivileged high-school students and placews them in corporate after-school jobs, is negotiatinv a lease in downtown St. Paul. The organization will pilot its program with 20 students from thre e high schoolsin St. Paul: Humboldt, Harding and Highlan Park. The students will get networking and IT training duringan eight-week coursre during the summer. At summer's end they'll be placed in after-schook jobs at companies. Genesys is seeking corporationsin St. Paul to participates in the program. It's also seeking $250,00 0 in funding to sustain operationsin 2008.
In Genesys works with dozens of including TheBoeing Co., Continental Airline s Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Fulbrigh t & Jaworski. In 2007, 115 students participated in theprogramk there. The founder and presidengt of Genesys Works, Rafael Alvarez, chose to expand into the Twin which isthe organization's first markey outside of Houston, because the area has plenthy of corporate headquarters and high schoolzs willing to participate.
A strong public transportationsysten -- needed for kids to get to and from work -- also was a Alvarez connected with Tollefson afterr contacting Social Venture Partners Minnesota, a group of entrepreneurs who fund and assist programs that focusd on at-risk youths. Tollefson, a memberd of the group, offered to oversee and run Genesyx Worksin St. Paul. Tollefsoh had previously been a partnerof , a Palo Alto, Calif.-basee firm that once had a sizable presencw in the Twin Cities. He said the organization wantx to expandbeyond St. Paul into arease such as Minneapolis, Richfield and Roseville.