CONTACTS:
Tricia Bentley
Vollmer Public Relations for Genesys Works
713-970-2100
Delyse Sylvester
Director of Communication
Ashoka's Changemakers
250-551-0570
dsylvester@ashoka.org
Genesys Works Named Finalist
In The Ashoka's Changemakers
"Young Men at Risk"
Competition
Houston-based Genesys Works
has been chosen a finalist from 364 innovative programs participating in this
initiative. The judges have now selected the finalists for outstanding
innovation, social impact and sustainability, and the public is invited to vote
online for the top three programs. Each of the winners will receive cash awards
from Ashoka's Changemakers. Voting is open now, and continues through March 10,
2008.
Over a span of fourteen
months, the Genesys Works program opens doors to low-income Houston-area
high-schools students and illustrated to them that they can achieve success and
thrive in the work place as well-rounded professionals while breaking through
cultural barriers of limited resources and opportunity. Students are taught
professional and technical skills in information technology, engineering
drafting, accounting or customer operations. Then Genesys Works provides them
with the opportunity to apply these skills in a fast-paced business environment
by working at a paid position for a corporate partner during their senior year
in high school. In this environment of high expectations, a transformation takes
place in the lives of the students when they discover that pursuing a
professional career is within reach and the best path to economic security.
“Genesys Works is a
revolutionary program that uses public-private partnerships to address the
deficiencies of most secondary education in low-income areas in the
Young Men at Risk:
Transforming the Power of a Generation utilizes Ashoka's Changemakers’ online,
open-source competition model, which attracted entries from 39 countries. All
finalists will have opportunities to connect with key decision-makers,
investors, and other enthusiasts.
The global community of
Changemakers is invited to comment on finalists’ entries and vote for the
winners. Anyone can register to vote for three innovations at
www.changemakers.net/competition/men. The three who have garnered
the most votes will be announced as competition winners on March 11, 2008, and
each will receive a $5,000 Changemakers cash award.
About Genesys Works
Genesys Works is a
Houston-based non-profit organization whose mission is to enable underprivileged
high school students to join the economic mainstream by providing them with the
knowledge, industry certifications and work experience required to succeed as
professionals. For more information, please visit
www.genesysworks.org.
About Ashoka’s
Changemakers
Ashoka's Changemakers
is building the world's first global online "open source" community that
competes to surface the best social solutions to the world's most pressing
issues. We focus on thematic, collaborative competitions, inviting innovators
from around the world to profile and collaborate with a global community of
investors, thought leaders and enthusiasts. To date Changemakers has launched 14
successful collaborative competitions and attracted more than 2,000 high-impact
solutions from more than 125 countries. Changemakers builds on Ashoka's 26 year
history identifying and selecting leading social entrepreneurs and its belief in
"everyone a changemaker" global society. Get involved. Find out more about how
to nominate, enter, comment and vote in our collaborative competitions
www.changemakers.net
About the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation
The
Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues
facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to
improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with
a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and
achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change.
For more than 35
years, the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous,
balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of
those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get
the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your
lifetime.