Ballinger|Leafblad is proud to present the following information on behalf of our client, Genesys Works

and a retained search for an Executive Director

Presents

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

www.genesysworks.org/twincities/

Genesys WorksTwin Cities

Executive Director

PRESENTING OUR CLIENTGENESYS WORKS

Genesys Works is a non-profit organization dedicated to building bridges between
economically disadvantaged high school students, businesses seeking technologyproficient workers, and a public education system struggling to produce high-quality,
market-ready graduates.

ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY
Genesys Works was founded in 2002 in Houston with the mission to enable economically
disadvantaged high school students to enter and thrive in the economic mainstream by
providing them the knowledge and work experience required to succeed as
professionals. Since then, Genesys Works has an impressive and proven track record of
success with 95% of their program graduates going on to enroll in college. Genesys
Works operates in Houston, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota; and
San Francisco, California.
Genesys WorksTwin Cities (GWTC) was created in 2008 to address the need for lowincome students and students of color in the Twin Cities metro area to achieve academic
success in high school, and the need for all students to find new entry points to livingwage occupations. Further, the organization addresses the need for the corporate
community to prepare for and welcome a wave of young people who are more racially,
culturally, ethnically, religiously and economically diverse than preceding generations of
Minnesota workers. The organizations mission is to enable economically disadvantaged
high school students to enter and thrive in the economic mainstream by providing them the
knowledge and work experience required to succeed as professionals.
The Twin Cities program of Genesys Works has experienced tremendous growth since
training its first class of students in the summer of 2008. The number of young
professionals placed into year-long meaningful internships has grown from 11 in the first
year to 224 for a record year in 2014. While proud of this growth and the more than 800
young men and women who have been hired and placed into corporate jobs over the
past seven years, its the impact that Genesys Works is having on students lives that
brings the most satisfaction and motivates the team in their work.
Genesys WorksTwin Cities currently employs 25 full-time and 8 part-time staff and has a
budget of nearly $5 million (85% earned income, 15% philanthropic support).
The organization is proud of its work and the many stories that accompany it. Student
participants learn, through the Genesys Works program, to set their sights on achieving
professional goals and earning a high quality standard of living for their future.

Genesys WorksTwin Cities

Executive Director

ORGANIZATIONAL RECOGNITION
Organization highlights from seven years of operation in the Twin Cities include:
**Genesys Works-Twin Cities was recognized by President Obama as a White House
Champion of Change for its work in support of the Presidents Youth Jobs +
initiative in a White House ceremony in September 2013.
**The Saint Paul Area Chamber honored Genesys Works with the 2013 Deubener
Award for Nonprofit Service Business, one of five organizations so honored for
exemplifying growth, excellence, risk, diversity and innovation.
**In 2013, Genesys Works Twin Cities was ranked by Philanthropedia, a division of
Guidestar, and Minnesota Philanthropy Partners, as the #9 nonprofit organization
working to support the education of Minnesotas at-risk youth, out of 135
organizations that were reviewed.
**In 2011, Genesys Works was named by Forbes Magazine in its inaugural Impact
30 list of the worlds leading social entrepreneurs and organizations using
innovative business solutions in tackling the worlds most intractable social problems.
GENESYS WORKS PARTNERSHIPS
School Partnerships
Genesys Works collaborates with Twin Cities-area public schools, leading corporations,
and other youth development organizations on both a local and national scale to
leverage available resources while maximizing impact in the community.
The organization maintains informal partnerships with public schools in Minneapolis,
Saint Paul, and first-tier suburbs, including Richfield, Brooklyn Center, Columbia Heights,
Robbinsdale, and others to provide relevant, real-world educational opportunities that
motivate high school students to graduate and enroll in college. To recruit the targeted
populations for the program, self-nominated Genesys Works champions within the
school system are critical partners. These are typically principals, counselors, career
center staff or work-based learning teachers. Partnerships with these champions is
bolstered by a common goal of creating a high school culture focused on college and
career readiness and success. Thus far, this system has produced meaningful
collaborations and relationships with many long term partners who work with the
organization year after year.
Beyond the primary partnerships, other Twin Cities organizations work with high schools
and employers to provide youth employment and career readiness programs. For this

Genesys WorksTwin Cities

Executive Director

reason, Genesys Works was a catalyst in creating the Twin Cities Career Readiness
Collaborative in 2012, which includes more than two dozen organizations such as
AchieveMpls, Best Prep, Cristo Rey, and the summer job programs of the cities of
Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Together, these groups defined best practices in career
readiness, build a common data base of opportunities, and determined common
assessment tools, with the ultimate goal of strengthening and expanding youth career
readiness programming and opportunities throughout Minnesota.
On a national level, the organization joined the National College Access Networks
Common Measures Learning Community (CMLC) in 2013, becoming one of 20 NCAN
member programs nationwide who have come together to improve implementation and
data tracking for the benefit of students in Genesys Works programs.

Corporate Partnerships
Over the past seven years, Genesys WorksTwin Cities has significantly expanded
partnerships with corporate employers, growing from 7 corporate partners in 2008 to 47
partners in 2014. These organizations include 3M, Allina Health, Accenture, Blue Cross
Blue Shield, Cargill, Ecolab, Medtronic, Target, Thrivent Financial, Xcel Energy, Carlson,
Dorsey, Donaldson, Deluxe, HealthPartners, Medica, LandOLakes, UnitedHealth and
many others. The corporate partnerships are based on a written services agreement,
with students serving as paid contractors for the duration of the internship. Service
agreements are secured by recruiting in the Chief Information Officer (CIO) community;
then, workplace champions (similar to school champions) find the right positions, tasks,
projects, and supervisors to give students a meaningful hands-on experience they can
draw upon for future career success.
With a focus on information technology, students are trained to excel in their jobs.
Students selected for the program are taught technical and professional skills in the
information technology (IT) field and then hired by Genesys Works as young
professionals. They are then engaged to work in the IT departments of client companies
where they work as contract technicians each day during their senior year.
Genesys Works young professionals provide the following services to client companies:
Help Desk support
System refreshes, migrations, imaging, and core loads
Software installation and Hardware upgrades
Computer deployment and setup
General PC and network troubleshooting
Cable making and cable pulls
Ticket tracking and resolution
Updating corporate IT database information
Managing computer and equipment inventory control

Genesys WorksTwin Cities

Executive Director

PRESENTING THE POSITION OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Genesys Works looks forward to an exciting future. The organization is searching for a
new Executive Director to take a long-term view and lead the organization in its work of
advancing opportunities for economically-disadvantaged high school students and
building the technology workforce of the future.
Genesys Works-Twin Cities is seeking a dynamic, energetic and proven business leader to
lead its Minneapolis and St. Paul locations on a continued growth trajectory. The
successful candidate will lead GWTC to increase the number of students and companies
served (growth), and also serve them better (impact).
The Executive Director will report directly to the Board of Directors of Genesys WorksTwin Cities, and will work in close partnership with the CEO/Founder of Genesys Works
National as well as the Executive Directors of the other Genesys Works locations
nationwide.
As the leader of Genesys Works-Twin Cities, the Executive Director will oversee all
aspects of the operation, including corporate client engagement, student recruitment,
strategic partnerships, local fundraising, staff management, Board development, and
growth. Direct reports to the Executive Director include a Program Director (Beth
Moncrief), Workplace Director (Joel Crandall) and Development Director (Katie Jumbe).
The position is open due to the planned departure of well-regarded, long-time leader
and GWTC founding Executive Director Jeff Tollefson. Jeff will assist with the
transition to a new leader.

THE PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:

The Executive Director serves as the chief executive officer of the organization and is
responsible for overall professional leadership and administration. The Executive
Director serves as the primary relationship manager with key decision-makers at clients
and leads the operations of the 24-person nonprofit organization. In addition, this
person must be able to relate to and inspire the young professional applicants and
intern.
Specific responsibilities include:

Lead and grow a staff of 24 motivated professionals to continue to achieve great

levels of impact.
Leverage existing corporate relationships and engage additional medium and large
corporations to provide professional services to meet their IT needs and increase the
number of students working in meaningful internships.

Genesys WorksTwin Cities

Executive Director

Establish strategic partnerships with businesses, schools and other non-profit

organizations to drive positive change in education.
Leverage existing relationships with funders, and create new ones, to fund the
expected capital needs of the organization in its next phases of growth.
Work with the Board of Directors to develop a plan for successful execution of
objectives.
Work with the CEO of Genesys Works National and the executive directors of the
other Genesys Works sites to make strategic and programmatic decisions that impact
the entire organization.

THE DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

The ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications:

At least 15 years professional experience, with at least five in a senior level

management position, preferably within a high-growth, entrepreneurial environment
Bachelors degree or equivalent experience required; Masters degree in business, IT
management or related field a plus
Meaningful background (ideally including P&L responsibility) in business
development, sales and marketing of consulting services, business services, or
related. Understanding of a social enterprise model.
Proven experience designing and executing growth strategies
Demonstrated ability to work with senior corporate leaders, such as CEOs and CIOs
of major corporations
Proven track record of success managing and motivating staff and developing
leaders
Track record of success managing and delivering results for multiple stakeholders in a
fast-paced environment
Comfort and demonstrated success in soliciting private philanthropic support
Superior analytical skills and a high level of competency in strategic planning
Strong emotional intelligence, with the ability to listen and communicate effectively
with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders
Public speaking abilities; skills in delivering information to groups of all sizes
Deep belief in the Genesys Works mission and a strong determination to grow the
organization to be best in class

The ideal candidate will possess the following personal characteristics:

Passion for the issues of youth development, economic development and academic
achievement and youth employment
Cultural competence and commitment to issues of diversity and inclusion
Curiosity, lifelong learner

Genesys WorksTwin Cities

Executive Director

Political savvy; able to interact in complex, nuanced environments

Exceptional relationship management skills; ability to connect with people

THE COMPENSATION PACKAGE:

The compensation package is based on experience and includes participation in the
Genesys Works-Twin Cities comprehensive benefits plan.

BALLINGER|LEAFBLAD INVITES YOU TO CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Marcia Ballinger, PhD

Co-Founder/Principal
651-341-4840
marcia@ballingerleafblad.com

Lars Leafblad, MBA

Co-Founder/Principal
612-598-7547
lars@ballingerleafblad.com

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