Allina Impacts Lives at Roosevelt High

Janet Phetsamone and Maiko Yang with Eric Ruppert, Allina Community Workforce Grant Coordinator, at Draft Day

Genesys Works began its partnership with Allina Hospitals and Clinics in 2011 because of their philanthropic vision to help low-income students from Roosevelt High School gain meaningful work experience.  In its first year, Allina is hosting two Genesys Works Young Professionals, Maiko Yang as an Information Technology (IT) Help Desk intern and Janet Phetsamone as a Program Management intern.  Both of these students’ supervisors have taken mentoring their Young Professionals very seriously.  For example, both Janet and Maiko are completing an introductory rotational program where they shadow different full-time employees to get a taste of how their coworkers contribute to the success of their departments.

In the IT Help Desk internship, Maiko was placed in a training program for new employees in her department.  In this training program, Maiko improved her communication, customer service, and computer problem solving skills.  After completing her three month help desk training, she now takes calls from health care professionals troubleshooting problems they are having accessing their email and shared company drives and solving basic network malfunctions they encounter on a daily basis.  Maiko’s work supervisor says that she “is learning to communicate with callers over the phone very well.  This is a skill that takes not only effective speaking, but excellent listening skills.  Additionally, Maiko is already making friends at the service desk.  She comes in very cheerful and applies herself to her job.  With the steep learning curve we give her (we prefer a 2 year degree or more and like experience for this position), she continues to learn and be positive.”

Similarly, Janet is provided just as much support and meaningful work as Maiko.  As a Program Management Intern, Janet has taken on office projects.  As the main contact for these projects, she has been given the opportunity to run her own staff meetings, set agendas, use and set up shared drives, and become an expert with Microsoft Excel and Outlook.  Janet’s work supervisor says that “Janet has shown a growing and increasing level in her computer abilities, specifically with the tools we use.  She enjoys learning and is open to new things.  She is becoming more confident working with the team and is doing a great job.  She is open to new learning and embraces each opportunity.  I look forward to watching her continued growth throughout the year.”

The new and blooming partnership between Allina, Genesys Works, and Roosevelt High School is the type of partnership we hope to form with other West Metro high schools and clients.  If more students like Maiko and Janet can gain valuable work experience before going to college and if more organizations like Allina have the opportunity to serve their community, it is a win-win for both our future workforce and their future employers.