Southern Nevada Celebration of Impact Luncheon

Michelle Silva took a break after attending UNLV’s explorer program for 2 years. Inspired by her sister who graduated from ITWorks last year, Michelle enrolled into ITWorks with the hopes of finding a stable and fulfilling career in IT. Michelle says “I never would have thought that I had an interest in building and taking apart even the simplest complicated devices”.  Michelle is always the first person in class and the last person to leave. She plans to be a Computer Engineer after completing the ITWorks program and earning her CompTIA A+ Certification.

Michelle recently started her internship at Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging where she will be working with their IT Help Support department.

Over the years, technology has changed the way we interact and run our daily lives. Wendy’s fascination with the simplicity technology provides inspired a sudden career change from Banker at Wells Fargo to the IT world. Even though Wendy has made a career change, she realizes she can continue to help individuals with their needs and provide them with peace of mind with technical issues rather than financial. Upon discovering the ITWorks Program, Wendy felt that it was the perfect opportunity that she could not pass up. As a mother of 2 children, Wendy says “it is a challenge balancing work, school, and personal life but I could not pass this opportunity up because this is the last year I will be within the age requirement”.  Wendy looks forward to furthering her knowledge in IT and attaining both the CompTIA A+ and Cisco IT essentials certifications.  After completing the certifications, she hopes to start a career in the field of IT.

Wendy recently started her internship with Wynn and she would like to eventually work towards becoming a IT Program Manager where she can use her leadership skills.

Ray Jordan Franklin is a 24-year-old native of Las Vegas. Ray Jordan has been working as a security guard for the last 5 years. Before enrolling into Tech Impact’s ITWorks program, Ray Jordan tried to enroll into CSN as a Cyber Security Major but could not afford tuition at the time. He heard about Tech Impact through a friend, where he jumped at the opportunity to pursue a career in IT. During Ray’s interview he said “it is extremely hard to financially afford to go to college while living on your own. I never knew there were programs like Tech Impact’s ITWorks program, now I have an opportunity to pursue a career in IT.”

Ray recently started his internship at iTech where he will work with their IT Help Desk Support.

Spring 2019 CXWorks graduate, Ronald, was born in El Salvador, but raised in Las Vegas. He joined the workforce immediately after graduating from high school to help his family financially and to pay for college, however, was forced to put his educational goals to the side to focus on his family.   

 During this difficult time in his life, his cousin encouraged him to look into the program that she had just completed earlier in 2019, CXWorks. According to Ronald, “At first, I was very skeptical, it sounded too good to be true. It’s a free, two-month program that teaches you how to ace an interview, they feed you twice a week and put you in contact with outstanding companies looking for outstanding people. And they pay you weekly?” After speaking with CXWorks staff members who felt that he would be a perfect fit for this amazing opportunity, he accepted the offer to join the Spring 2019 CXWorks session.  

 Ronald was selected by his classmates to speak at the CXWorks graduation on July 26. He shared, “I know that my classmates and I will exercise and practice everything we’ve learned, to push ourselves onward, to achieve our goals and fulfill our dreams.” Shortly after graduation, he secured a full-time Customer Service Representative position with Ameriprise and doubled his annual earnings.