Nearly 120 student interns from Genesys Works have supported our operations at the SFMTA.
Many talented students have helped us keep Muni moving and our streets safe. We’re starting off the new year with gratitude for their hard work!
We recently celebrated 10 years of partnership and more than 100 internships with Genesys Works.
See how Genesys Works students have helped our agency and the city – and what they’ve learned along the way.
SFMTA staff who have supervised interns celebrate 10 years of partnership with Genesys Works.
Helping young people build fulfilling careers
Genesys Works secures paid internships for high school students from underserved communities.
First, students learn a range of business skills over the summer to prepare. They take trainings in both professional and technical skills. Next, students express interest in a specific field or type of work environment. From there, Genesys Works finds a match with one of its partner organizations.
At the SFMTA, 117 Genesys Works interns have supported more than 60 supervisors across six divisions.
“These young professionals have brought fresh perspectives, tech-savviness and a drive to succeed,” said SFMTA Director of Human Resources Kimberly Ackerman. “They have enriched our agency in profound ways.”
Public outreach is a key part of our work. Interns have helped raise awareness about our projects.
Meet Abigayl Habte: Inspired by close-knit communications teams
Abigayl Habte, a high school student from Oakland, told Genesys Works that she was open to many fields. Her main priority was to “work with other people.”
Genesys Works found Habte an internship with our External Communications, Marketing & Outreach division.
Agency contributions
Now halfway through her internship, Habte has helped our agency in a range of ways.
- Encouraging public feedback
Habte has helped us raise awareness about the Valencia Bikeway Improvements project. She posted flyers along the Valencia corridor to promote open houses.
She also designed flyers to share information about our Geary Boulevard Improvement project.
SFMTA staff work hard to make our system and services accessible. Student interns are helping, too.
- Providing accessible content
Accessibility is important to us. Habte has helped by updating PDFs of our bus routes and train lines so they include the latest info.
She has also provided alternative text for webpages. This supports people who use screen readers.
Skill development
During her time with us, Habte has also learned a range of important skills.
- Time management
"After working at the SFMTA, I’m more proactive about getting things done in a timely manner,” Habte explained. “I understand that I’m given tasks by other people who need them done by a certain deadline.”
Now, Habte says she keeps a “good schedule” and is better at “balancing out school, personal life and work.”
- Problem-solving
Habte says she’s also better at asking for help when a problem is too difficult to handle on her own.
“Before, when I came across a technical issue, I would say I could figure it out,” Habte said. “I did this thing where I wouldn’t ask anybody and it would take me forever to get it done. Now I'm asking for help more.”
Looking ahead
“I think this internship has changed my perspective a lot because I was always strictly thinking about computer science before,” Habte explained.
It seemed like a natural fit. Habte has taken several coding courses at her high school.
Now, she's considering communications or marketing as a career. Habte says the chance to join meetings with our communications team played a big part.
“Seeing the different topics people talk about and how they want to fix things and the dynamic they have – it's been great,” Habte said.
Her favorite part: “In communications and marketing, you’re always working with somebody!”
Meet Sara Blandon Zavala: Paving the way in data science
Sara Blandon Zavala, a high school student in Richmond, signed up to learn about accounting. Genesys Works matched her with our Finance & IT division.
Our Finance & IT division reports on assets like our historic streetcars, among other projects.
Agency contributions
So far, Blandon Zavala has worked on projects for our Asset Management and Administrative Hearing teams.
- Created a system to track and support division-wide reporting
Blandon Zavala has helped our finance division track and manage a wide range of reports. She created a spreadsheet that makes it easy for leaders to understand what's due and who's in charge. This way, we can better support staff to meet key deadlines.
- Tracked administrative hearings and analyzed trends
Blandon Zavala has also helped us understand trends and opportunities around administrative hearings.
Skill development
During her internship, Blandon Zavala has strengthened her skills in:
- Data management
“I’ve been able to focus a lot on my Excel and data entry skills,” Blandon Zavala said. “It’s been so significant for me.”
“I thought I wanted to pursue accounting,” she explained. “But this work made me realize that I have more of a passion for data science.”
- PowerPoint presentations and business writing
Blandon Zavala also gets to present the data she manages. She uses tips she learned from a workshop offered by our Customer Communications team.
The training covered how to structure information so it meets readers’ needs. It also shared how to keep language clear and simple.
“I keep those tips in mind when I make agendas and presentations,” Blandon Zavala explained. “I try hard to make sure my writing is clear and easy to understand."
“I’ve presented findings with graphs and was able to accurately describe what they meant to leaders,” Blandon Zavala said.
Looking ahead
After all her work with spreadsheets, Blandon Zavala has already decided she wants to pursue data science in college.
“It is scary to do data science as a woman and as a minority.” Blandon Zavala said. “But it’s also exciting to go ahead anyway and hopefully triumph in that field, to set a new standard in both my family and my community.”
Genesys Works interns and their managers meet to celebrate a decade of partnership.
Learning as we mentor
We’re thankful for the many contributions Genesys Works interns have made to our agency.
We’re also grateful for the ways they’ve helped us grow as leaders.
Nehama Rogozen, a public relations officer in our communications division, has supervised five interns from Genesys Works. She says they all helped her grow as a manager.
“The first intern I worked with, that was my first time managing anyone at the SFMTA,” Rogozen explained. “We had a really great relationship, and she helped me figure out my own leadership and management style.”
Genesys Works also played a role. It offers one-on-one meetings for managers who supervise its high school interns.
“That was really important, because working with high schoolers is really different than working with adults,” Rogozen said. “They can have a lot of things on their plate – challenges we don’t have as adults. They’re also learning how to be in the workforce.”
Thanks to Genesys Works staff and interns, Rogozen says she’s now able to manage people “differently based on their skills and role and focus area.”
Plus, she enjoys hearing from interns as they move on from the SFMTA and build careers.
“Sometimes they go into transit or communications or outreach. It’s so cool to see them find out what they want to do.”