ICA Update No. 109 | Page 27

ICA Update Cristo Rey must confront a community of educators, employers, coaches, and supervisors who guide them to answer the all important question: Who do you want to be and what do you need to do to get there? Jenny’s story does not stop there. She has been a partner of the Corporate Work Study Program for more than five years. Four students work in the Risk Management & Safety department under the supervision of Jenny’s team. When the program began, she saw that this was in-line with the mission she knew so well and wanted to be part of making the mission a reality. She says that in the beginning it was not easy because it forced her team to get organized. “When there is more structure, we see that our young ladies start to build skills quickly and can be trusted with more responsibility.” She goes onto say, “We see that the students are better trained and now we have them as a central part of our team.” In addition, Jenny takes the time to engage her student workers with “real talks”. “ I sit with them and ask, “How are you going to present yourself as a women in a male dominated world.” Through the conversations, she works to guide her student workers to understand that we all worked to get where we are now. So the most important questions are not necessarily about the end result, but the pathway to success. “These young women are also learning how to enter into the industries they become interested in and most people grow up thinking there just is a doctor, lawyer, accountant, or that they go to an office. Oftentimes, no one talks about the path that gets them there. This is great exposure to experience life in a different way and meet people they would never be exposed to and learn about the path.” As ICA Cristo Rey enters its eighth year with our work study program, we now are beginning to see how the work experience is starting to pay off once students graduate. It is only fitting that Jenny is also involved in setting an example. During Emely Alberto’s ’15 senior year, she worked on Jenny’s team. Emely was accepted to college and was getting ready to start her Frosh year at Skyline. Meanwhile, Jenny had an idea. “We had an entry level position and we were not pleased with the previous hires. We sat around and said how can we fill this…how about Emely? We did not want her to leave school but saw her productivity on our team as a senior at ICA Cristo Rey. I told her you have to go to school, it is important for your future.” Emely now works full time and goes to school at night. She is a claims assistant and is responsible for looking at all claims that come into Jenny’s department world-wide and determines how to address the claims. Additionally, Emely completes research for lawsuits as a pseudoparalegal. Jenny says, “Initially there is some transition from the high school work study experience to the real-world, but learning responsibility at a young age is a great gift.” Jenny urges other companies to do the same. She says that ICA Cristo Rey is a valuable job bank and as other companies invest in its future, the possibilities are endless. “This Spartan Spotlight job bank invests in not only future employment, but also is a catalyst for promoting higher education completion for young women. I am very proud to be part of this team. I think there is great opportunity here—there is a great ladder for them to move up. As professionals we network, and our girls get the chance to build their networks and be part of others’ networks. The young women of ICA Cristo Rey are above and beyond the majority of young talent out there—they need to be on the radar for other opportunities.” We celebrate Jenny for all she embodies as a member of the ICA community. She lives the mission of our community and continues to teach the lessons she learned on campus to the wide world that is in her reach. We look forward to seeing not only Jenny’s continued success, but also the successful lives she forms and guides in the spirit of our ICA Cristo Rey mission. § Summer 2016 27