YouthForce Internship Leads to Entry in High-Wage Career Pathway

As Vernell Cheneau III prepared to graduate from YouthForce partner school, Rooted School, he already had three job offers to consider.  A 2020 YouthForce NOLA summer intern, Vernell decided to accept an offer from Entergy Corporation, where he will have opportunities for career advancement. 

“I am the first person to be hired at Entergy right out of high school,” 18-year-old Vernell said. As part of the Rooted School’s Green Balloon Fellowship program, he will support the human resources and finance operations “helping with payroll and analytical data -- “you know, the simple things.” 

After a year, he will be positioned to become a permanent full-time employee.

Graduating with three industry-based credentials and having honed his tech and soft skills as a YouthForce intern, Vernell is well prepared to take on his new job.

“We know firsthand that the pathway to financial freedom for members of the communities we serve can be directly impacted by our investments in workforce and economic development programs like the Green Balloon Fellowship,” said Taiwan Brown, vice president of Diversity & Workforce strategies at Entergy Corporation. “We welcome Vernell to the Entergy team.”

Entergy is also a YouthForce employer partner.

While Vernell acknowledges that working at Entergy is a big deal, he also is excited about the potential connections he can make at the Fortune 500 integrated energy company. The job and those connections will help him achieve his immediate goal of raising his credit score, as well as his ultimate goal to become a business owner.

 “Either way,” he said, [working at Entergy] will carry me somewhere.”