Young Professionals Prepare for Success at CME Group
Over the past eight years, CME Group has hosted 71 interns through the Genesys Works Young Professionals Program. During the ten-month paid internship, CME Group provides meaningful work experiences, mentoring support, and employee engagement opportunities, while building the future tech workforce of the community as a whole. Through the Genesys Works Young Professional program, CME Group has hosted paid interns since 2016, providing more than $600,000 in wages for students.
Founded in 2002 and established in Chicago in 2010, Genesys Works has provided over 1,300 high school seniors from the city’s South and West Sides with eight paid weeks of professional skills training in Business Technology and Accounting/Finance. Once students complete this training initiative, Genesys Works facilitates a ten-month paid internship where each student receives 1,000 hours of vocational training in Chicago’s top companies, including CME Group.
According to Sue Enright, Genesys Works Chicago’s Senior Director of Development: "A study conducted on the program via Columbia University found that every dollar invested in the program results in a ‘Social Return on Investment’ of $13.46, including increased earnings power and avoided costs for downstream services, concluding that it is critical to ensure that the next workforce has access to market-ready skills training and workplace opportunities to close the socioeconomic inequality gap in the city." Using this model, Enright says, “the estimated community impact of the Young Professionals Program to Chicago since 2010 is $11.5 million.”
“During my internship, I learned more about managing my time effectively, as well as communication, which allowed me to be more productive,” Giovanni Sanchez, a Genesys Works Young Professional who interned at CME Group during the 2022-23 academic year, reflected. “One important thing I learned about myself through this internship is that I am detail-oriented and a quick learner.”
“In such little time, Gio Sanchez stepped out of his comfort zone and [was] leading team builders for the other 12 Young Professionals at CME Group,” says Stephanie Mata, Program Coordinator at Genesys Works, of Sanchez’s experience. “He recently attended a meeting with the larger HR team and met colleagues from New York that he was working with remotely. Gio’s professionalism, dedication, and hard work is impressive.”
Since 2017, CME Group Foundation has contributed $200,000 to Genesys Works and the Young Professionals program. We are proud to support these students on their path to college and career success and positive community impact!
