AI Auto Podcast Mar 9, 2026

S7E16: Genesis & Genesis Inspiration Foundation Drive STEAM Education in Miami

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Car

Genesis GV60

The Genesis GV60 is a fancy electric car that doesn't use gas and is made by a company called Genesis. It's like a small SUV that looks cool and has lots of new technology inside. People talk about it because it's part of the future of cars that run on electricity.

Brand

Hyundai Corporation

Hyundai is a big company that makes many kinds of cars you might see on the road. They work hard to make cars that are good and affordable.

Concept

corporate social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility means a company tries to help people and the environment, not just make money. They do good things like helping schools and protecting nature.

Concept

STEAM education

STEAM education means learning about science, technology, engineering, art, and math all together. It helps kids think creatively and solve problems.

Car

Hyundai Genesis

The Hyundai Genesis is a nice, comfortable car that was made by Hyundai before they started their own fancy car brand called Genesis. It has lots of good features and is known for being a good deal for a luxury car. People mention it because it helped Hyundai make better, more expensive cars.

Term

car seat safety program

Car seats keep kids safe in cars, but if they are not put in right, they might not work well. This program helps parents learn how to use car seats the right way so kids stay safe.

LIVE

Well, today we're at Palmer Trinity School here in Miami with Genesis and I will say

why?

Why are we in Genesis?

With Genesis with our friend Brandon Ramirez Brandon, tell us why we're here.

Yes, we're partnering with Breakthrough Miami, it's a local nonprofit and the students that

are associated with Breakthrough Miami, they are learning about the Genesis product development

process.

They're getting a walk around on the Genesis GV60 and they're sketching and building their

future mobility vehicles using upcycle materials.

So that's a long way to say Genesis is helping the next generation of engineers, designers

and all that and we are with, I'm sorry, I don't remember.

This is Kia Green, I'm the assistant site director at Palmer Trinity.

Okay, and tell me why these programs are important for you.

Well first, tell us about the organization, who is participating, where these kids come

from because they don't belong to this school.

No, so our students are Miami Dade students from all over the county, they are students

who go to a Title I school and a Title I school is simply a school that basically provides

for students who are in low income areas.

So if their families are low socioeconomic status, they go to those schools and those

schools provide for them.

Yeah, so excuse my ignorance, but if I had heard Title I, I would think it was like the

top rank school in sports, in academics and all that, it's completely the opposite.

Yes, completely flipped.

Wow.

And at these Title I schools, the kids kind of get the bare minimum.

So they get English and writing and things like that, but they don't really get those

opportunities that other schools like the school that we're at right now, Palmer Trinity,

a private school has to offer.

So they're missing out on things like swimming or coding or creative things like that.

So what we do at Breakthrough Miami, we call ourselves the opportunity generator.

So we grab those students and it's six weeks in the summer and 14 Saturdays during the

school year, we provide them with the same opportunities that private school students

are provided at their schools.

And since, I mean, this is a beautiful school, I have to say, I've been like when I, I drove

past it many, many times, maybe in Genesis cars and human cars, but I've never got into

it.

And what I say like in, wow, wow, this is like a resort.

And that's another thing I think these kids might get into that, oh, there's another world.

So I'm going to tell you, maybe it's not good to talk about yourself.

But I went to high school in Atchinson, Kansas, and there were students from Thailand, from

Japan, from Philippines, Saudi Arabia.

And that opened my mind because I said, oh, there's like a whole world outside of that's

where these kids are seen here.

But in Miami, it still is like an eye-opening experience, right?

It definitely is.

So the first time we bring them to campus, they're fifth graders, they get off the bus

and they go, whoa, it's a jungle here, so there's a lot of greenery, there's a lot of

foliage.

Peacocks running around.

Little peacocks, some screaming and then fighting and putting out their feathers.

And the kids don't get this at their schools, it's usually just brick or cement buildings.

So we take them around, we show them the sites, and we also make sure to integrate them with

the private school kids who go here, because we want them to get comfortable being in these

spaces with other people, people who are not like them, and people who might have more

than them.

And how do they manage when they're not always comfortable?

Yeah.

And Brandon, it's very satisfying, I guess, for you to do this, I mean, to get this job

at a Hyundai Corporation, because, I mean, it's all about making, not all about, but

the main business part is making cars, selling cars, making a profit, but also be part of

the community, right?

And give back.

Yes, exactly.

Not only does Genesis develop world-class vehicles, they also give back to the community.

Yeah.

We have a corporate social responsibility initiative called Genesis Gives that provides

support of STEAM education, as well as youth sports and sustainability.

And this is an opportunity where we can get back in the area of STEAM education.

And it's not like, you put it very simply, but how many millions of dollars have Foundation

given away in the past few years?

Yeah.

At the end of this year, Genesis Inspiration Foundation would have donated 16 million

dollars in grants for youth art programming, and Breakthrough Miami was...

Youth art only.

Wow.

And Breakthrough Miami was a recipient last year.

Okay.

What did they get?

What did you get last year?

No, I mean, like, what part of, I mean, not the amount of money, but it was money, but

also, I think cars, right?

No, I don't know.

What was the car that...

You donated a car this weekend?

No, no, it was...

We gave them a $50,000 grant.

Oh, $50,000.

Well, what does that do to the organization?

What does $50,000 mean for the organization?

For us, it means buses for field trips.

It means opportunities to go see plays for the kids, opportunities to go do beach cleanups.

But really, buses, they're about $300 just to get a bus to go out.

Oh, to rent?

Oh, wow.

And then, as we're taking our kids, we go pick up all of the kids, all of them.

So, Pomeran Trinity manages the kids from Kendall all the way to Homestead.

So, we're running buses to pick up all the kids and bring them here and then take them

to field trips.

So, that's a lot.

So, we have three buses for just on one site.

That's $300 just to get the bus on the street.

So, that type of money can get our kids literally all the way up to Hialeah to get them all

over so they can go to field trips and have experiences.

And I heard that you know a very successful case about this program, right?

Yes.

Who is that?

That would be me.

I am a former scholar.

My sister was in this program when she was younger.

I started when I was in the fifth grade and I worked all the way up to becoming a teaching

fellow, a volunteer, a site coordinator, which is the person who manages our volunteers.

And now, I'm assistant site director.

And I've been with this program since I was in the fifth grade and it really does impress

So, how did you find out?

Like, do you remember your family or the teacher or what was it?

And it's funny because it's a really full circle moment.

So, what we do as site directors, we go from schools to schools, we knock on their doors,

we say, hi principal, can we speak to your fifth grade students so we can get them in

our program and we tell them about it.

And that's how I heard about it.

So, someone came to my school, my elementary school, the Montessori Academy Charter School,

and one of the breakthrough site directors came to my school and sat us all of the fifth

graders down in the room and told us about this amazing program.

And some kids weren't interested, but some kids were and I was one of those people who

were interested.

How old were you back then?

Fifth grade, you said?

Fifth grade.

So, I can't remember.

Maybe 10?

Around that.

So, I mean, still at that age, I mean, I've seen today kids that are very engaged, very

smart.

I mean, I was seeing one who was sitting next to me and when Brandon asked a question,

kind of technical question, I saw him like passing, like taking a moment to think about

it.

So, they're like really aware of things and you're aware, obviously.

We have the smartest of the smartest kids.

So, we always say that we don't make kids great, kids come to us great, we just give

them the opportunity.

Okay.

So, we're a lot of people here that over working with Title I school, so you must be working

with kids who are rep remedial, who need learning assistance, things like that.

No, no, no.

We get the top of the top kids who love learning, who are great at it and we just let them

be themselves and in doing that and giving them opportunities, they reach for the stars.

So, now you're a volunteer, you work full-time with the program.

I'm full-time, I'm the assistant site director at Palma Chinni.

Oh, I see.

Okay.

And Brandon, you came this weekend to Miami, but you did other things, you said you went

to the art music school?

Yeah.

So, we also partnered with Young Musicians Unite.

Okay.

And that organization prepares students to be musicians.

And so, we went into a classroom, they had all these different types of musical instruments,

but they perform as a band.

Oh, wow.

And they travel all across Miami-Dade County performing.

And they're like adults, you know, but with the Genesis Inspiration Foundation, we provided

a $50,000 donation to continue their mission.

And then the Hyundai Corporation, the HOPE Foundation, that's what it's called, right?

That's a completely different one that dealerships are involved with, right?

Yes.

So, yesterday as well, for Hyundai HOPE, that's our CSR initiative to provide corporate social

responsibility to provide safety support.

So, we partnered with Nicholas Children's Hospital on their car seat safety program.

Nearly 50% of car seats are installed incorrectly.

And with our funds of $25,000, they're able to have national certified technicians inspect

the car seats and show parents how to install it correctly if they're recalled or expired.

Hyundai funds new car seats for the community.

And then there's another one for the Cancer Foundation.

What is that one called?

Yes, Hyundai HOPE Wheels.

Oh, HOPE Wheels.

It is our non-profit to fight pediatric cancer.

And so, for every Hyundai vehicle sold, a portion of that goes to the foundation along

with donations from Hyundai Motor America.

And the goal...

And the dealerships, right?

And the dealerships.

Every single cell at a dealership gets contributed to the foundation.

And our goal is to have the opportunity to say, one day say, nobody has cancer.

So everybody is joining the fight.

All the executive leadership is behind these corporate social responsibility initiatives.

So obviously these big companies that most people don't even think about other than cars

or any other program, any other industry are really important, right?

And so that's a way for them to help.

Yeah, definitely.

If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be able to do half the things that we do.

We'd need any type of donations or sometimes it's not even about monetary.

Sometimes just having people show up and care and do things with our scholars is really

important.

Because it's one thing to just throw money at something, but it's another thing to gather

it's here and show up and do something with our kids.

So from the kids car, I mean, it's like asking a parent, who is your favorite one?

You love them, but you want to say they're like very bright kids in there.

Like any one that, like, you know, in particular have like an interesting car.

So how did they pick them to come here?

So sometimes we hand select certain kids who have a special interest in something.

But specifically for this case, we chose all of our seventh grade students because our

seventh grade students are working on the strand that is steam.

So they're working on anything that science, math or engineering related.

So they were super excited.

This is what we've been doing for 11 Saturdays in a row.

Things about engineering, the design process.

So that's what we work.

That's what that's part of our curriculum, them having a plan, drawing it out, trying

something. And if it doesn't work, revamping it and doing it again.

So what you told them to do was literally they're like, oh, we know this.

So this is what we've been doing.

Oh, OK, OK.

I'm running through about many years that you've been doing this.

I mean, how long it's been over four years.

I've been working in this corporate social responsibility field.

Yeah. No, but like the Genesis Foundation has been working before that or that when

he started the Genesis Inspiration Foundation was founded in 2018.

But every year we get bigger and bigger.

And as mentioned, at the end of the year, it'll be 16 million dollars.

So it's still a little early to maybe get an engineer, a designer from these programs

to work in Genesis, but maybe it will happen.

Yeah, maybe and maybe it's not only an engineer, it's a product planner or a designer.

Yeah. And last summer, I think it was we were in Atlanta where the Genesis Foundation

funded soccer field, right?

Yes. So they do a lot of different activities, so not only STEM, which is important,

music, which is important, art and everything, but you help in many different ways.

Yes, exactly.

Several weeks ago, we announced a partnership with First Tea nationwide to provide

mentorship and supplies and so forth for the First Tea students to learn golf.

Oh, that was at the at the GoFther event.

Yes, at the TGL in West Palm Beach.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we continue that.

You know, we we also partner with the U.S.

Soccer Foundation, where in Hollywood, Florida, we had the mini pitch.

And where kids can play for free in Hollywood, Florida, where we had our site

of this mini pitch across the street, they had a soccer field.

But the kids can't play.

You have to be part of club soccer and you have to pay $400 a month.

But here we we partner with the Police Athletic League

and we're able to provide the service free of charge.

So all these companies, organizations like yours and everything,

I mean, there's always help.

But I'm surprised sometimes to find out that people don't know or don't apply.

But then I remember years and years ago, what I was working at an

ABC on the Harvard University funded, I don't know who was the funder,

but they have ten million dollars in scholarship for Hispanic students.

They couldn't fill it up because nobody applied.

So it's very important to to share the information, right?

So how can people help?

How can people get this information out?

How kids can get involved in this?

We how can anyone get involved? Volunteer.

We're always having opportunities to volunteer.

You can come out.

You can be in the classroom teaching the kids or you can volunteer to do a workshop.

We have parents come in and do like an arts and crafts workshop, a creative

writing workshop. But most importantly, if you go on our web page, break through Miami.org

or you can find us on Instagram, Breakthrough Miami, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube.

We're all there. Yep, we're on all the socials.

Just log on to our page and just read up a little bit about it.

So we have our mission on there and we have ways to help, ways to donate.

You can sign up to volunteer on there.

Everything is on our website.

Yeah. And what about all the foundations from the human group?

Yeah. So we also have a website, Genesisinspirationfoundation.org.

There you can make donations or if you're a nonprofit, you can fill out

the nonprofit interest form and so that way they can be considered for the future.

Excellent. Well, let's go back and see what the kids are doing.

And maybe we'll see, as you said, maybe the 20, 40 Genesis, some model.

Exactly. Let's go and see. Thank you.

That's it for today's AI Auto podcast with Javier Mota.

Hope you enjoyed the ride as much as we did.

Tune in next time for more on how AI steering the wheel of tomorrow's autos.

Drive safe, stay curious and catch you later.

0:00

14:14

S7E16: Genesis & Genesis Inspiration Foundation Drive STEAM Education in Miami

Genesis GV60

Hyundai Corporation

corporate social responsibility

STEAM education

Hyundai Genesis

car seat safety program

About this episode

Original notes