Champions of Change
Jeff Tollefson proudly serves as the Executive Director of Genesys Works in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he helps students break out of the poverty cycle and into the corporate world, shining a light on a path few students from low-income environments even know exists. Through Genesys Works, Jeff is committed to building bridges between economically-disadvantaged high school students, businesses seeking technology-proficient workers, and a public education system struggling to produce college and career-ready graduates. After spending more than 17 years in the venture capital industry, his involvement as a partner (and now board member) of Social Venture Partners helped him to see how his time, talents and relationship networks could be better utilized in the social sector, leading Jeff to leave the for-profit world and launching the Genesys Works program in the Twin Cities in 2008.