The nonprofit focuses on helping first-generation college students like Valencia build \u201csocial capital.\u201d That means mentors, networks, and the kind of experience that isn\u2019t always taught in class.<\/p>\n
![\"Ximena](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250625-education-globalminded-jb-hwv010-1024x683.jpg\"\/)
Jenny Brundin\/CPR NewsXimena Valencia, 21, left, and Vanessa Cepeda, 20, both rising seniors at the University of Denver, are the first-generation college students. They soaked up wisdom and tips from industry, academic, and nonprofit leaders about networking and the job market at the GlobalMindED conference in Denver.<\/p>\n
The three-day conference brought together industry, academic leaders and students from across the state and nation to discuss the current job market, how artificial intelligence is changing learning and working, and how best to snag internships and jobs. It was also a chance for GlobalMindED to work on its ambitious plan to close the gap between college and the working world for millions of students in the future.<\/p>\n
Valencia\u2019s friend Vanessa Cepeda, 20, who is studying international business with a minor in marketing and business law, has already picked up tips at the conference to practice at the job fair.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t go in without a game plan for who you want to meet, and then if you meet someone unexpectedly, you should always have your elevator pitch, you should always have something catchy about yourself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
College grads entering a tough job market<\/p>\n
The job market is tightening for young people. Though Colorado still has a low unemployment rate, April hires dropped by 33,000<\/a>. There\u2019s now roughly one job opening for every unemployed person in the state. Two years ago, there were two.<\/a> Experts say the current situation in some fields is even worse than after the 2008 recession.\u00a0<\/p>\n The causes are many. There are government layoffs, tariff-related layoffs, and tech layoffs<\/a>. Artificial intelligence is displacing some jobs. And President Trump\u2019s targeting of diversity initiatives has led some companies to eliminate divisions that recruited diverse college students, according to Carol Carter, founder of GlobalMindED<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have people who have been laid off and they’re in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, and they are also competing for those jobs with a lot more experience than some of the younger people might have,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Beyond the specialized skills many jobs require, just getting on a company\u2019s radar can require connections most first-gen students don\u2019t have. That\u2019s where this conference comes in. The answer isn\u2019t just in polishing a r\u00e9sum\u00e9 or touting a GPA \u2014 it\u2019s in showing up and networking.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause they (employers) don’t want someone that (just) has good grades, because anybody can do that,\u201d Valencia said. \u201cThey want to know your story and they want to make sure that you are giving back to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n GlobalMindED urges students to start their networking and other skill-building way before college graduation. College students need to build their leadership skills by joining something on campus, and it doesn\u2019t have to be something that directly relates to the field they want to go into.<\/p>\n \u201cOr you\u2019re a barista at Starbucks \u2013 become an assistant manager,\u201d Carter said. \u201cYou need to show how your initiative is helping you get to that next level.\u201d<\/p>\n She said recent graduates need to be scrappy and innovative, piecing together two or three different things and they need to know how to articulate what they know how to do.<\/p>\n \u201cThe number one thing that young people need is strong interpersonal skills,\u201d she said. \u201cHow we can best AI is by having super strong abilities with the human capacity to understand how to get things done through and with others.\u201d<\/p>\n The strengths of first-generation students<\/p>\n While GlobalMindED is focused on helping first-generation students enter the job market with the same soft skills as the children of college graduates, first-generation students also have advantages. To make it through higher education, they have had to persist, find unique solutions to problems, and not give up when others might have, Carter said, critical traits employers look for.<\/p>\n JJ Mendez, a prelaw student at the University of Denver, knows that hustle. He\u2019s worked at O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts, Amazon, Dave & Buster\u2019s, Chick-fil-A, Buc-ee\u2019s gas station, all to \u201ckeep myself alive\u201d and pay for school. He had to work through the doubts \u2014 \u201cwhy do I deserve to go to college?\u201d when nobody he knew had. But Mendez clearly remembers the day he spent nine hours working a paint striping job in a parking lot with his brother in 103-degree heat and realized, \u201cI don\u2019t think this is what I want to do with my life.\u201d<\/p>\n The conference and his university mentors have given him confidence that, as he searches for internships, people will see past his lack of experience so far in a professional setting.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s not a single lawyer in Colorado that won’t sit down and have a coffee with you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Valencia has the same drive.<\/p>\n \u201cI had to teach myself everything to be able to get myself where I\u2019m standing right now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Her classmate Cepeda applied for 60 scholarships each month of her senior year of high school in order to land three to attend the University of Denver. Both young women volunteer at multiple university organizations to help students and the larger community. They say they\u2019ve faced barriers \u2014from feeling disconnected in rooms where no one looks like them to feeling like they don\u2019t belong in certain spaces. But they\u2019ve also tapped into something powerful: purpose.<\/p>\n \u201cMy ultimate goal is to become a diplomat,\u201d said Cespeda, who came from the Dominican Republic to the U.S. as a child and knows three languages. \u201cOf course, that is a long journey and a lot of requirements and a persona that you need to build, so in the meantime, I would also love to step into a marketing role for companies that I’m passionate about.\u201d<\/p>\n The young women are also on the lookout for mentors who can help with the job application process, professional etiquette and networking strategies.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘I was in jeans, everyone else was in suits \u2026 I just instantly froze up’<\/p>\n Mentors are the reason Brian Ysasaga is where he is today. The 30-year-old clearly remembers the day he arrived at \u201cAerospace Day\u201d at the state capitol eager to learn about the industry.<\/p>\n \u201cI was in jeans, everyone else was in suits \u2026 I had never owned one before,\u201d he said. \u201cAs soon as I walked in, I just instantly froze up and was like, \u2018I don’t belong here. I need to go home.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In the parking lot, Ysasaga ran into GlobalMindED\u2019s Carol Carter. There was no leaving. She encouraged him to go back in and introduced him to people. Carter became a mentor; Ysasaga got involved in GlobalMindEd and connected with another mentor who\u2019d retired from Lockheed Martin.<\/p>\n \u201cHe really helped open the door to networking events and coaching me as to how to interview, how to work on my r\u00e9sum\u00e9, projects to work on in school, classes to take, so he really helped shape my career.\u201d<\/p>\n Ysasaga is now a system engineer for Lockheed Martin. It\u2019s a long way from his rough upbringing in Texas, as a child moving from motel to motel, his father and brothers in and out of prison. A middle school principal helped Ysasaga understand that education was the key to breaking that \u201ccycle of self-destruction.\u201d Years later, GlobalMindEd taught him something else.<\/p>\n \u201cIt taught me that everybody belongs,\u201d he said. \u201cIt gave me the confidence to go into an industry where minorities and people of color, women typically aren’t in certain STEM fields. That really gave me the confidence to walk into rooms and to network with people.\u201d<\/p>\n ‘I\u2019m trying to have them remember me’<\/p>\n Back at the job fair, Vanessa Cepeda is putting everything she\u2019s learned to work.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"GlobalMindED](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250625-education-globalminded-jb-hwv008-1024x683.jpg\"\/)
Courtesy Ajay Kyle\/Miss Money ShotPatricia Barela Rivera, executive director of the U.S. Small Business Administration, addresss students from across Colorado and the nation on the first day of GlobalMindED’s 11th annual conference, June 16, 2025.<\/p>\n![\"Ximena](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250625-education-globalminded-jb-hwv009-1024x683.jpg\"\/)
Jenny Brundin\/CPR NewsXimena Valencia, 21, a marketing and art student at the University of Denver, speaks to an employer at the GlobalMindED job fair June 18, 2025.<\/p>\n![\"First](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250625-education-globalminded-jb-hwv012-1024x683.jpg\"\/)
Jenny Brundin\/CPR NewsFirst generation college graduate Brian Ysasaga, a system engineer and Lockheed Martin, said GlobalMindED mentors and coaches gave him the confidence and skills he needed to walk into rooms and network with people, eventually landing a job.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250625-education-globalminded-jb-hwv014-1024x683.jpg\"\/)
Courtesy GlobalMindEDThe GlobalMindED conference in Denver last week offers first-generation college students learn about networking, the job market, and participate in a job fair.<\/p>\n