How one intern transformed his manager’s outlook about people — and her job

When Carolina Troya Zapata agreed to mentor an intern who had recently been released from a detention facility, she and her team were eager to give him a chance. She had no idea how challenging the experience would be for everyone — and how transformative.

Andres Alejandro Leal Loyola was sponsored by Fundación Reinventarse, an innovative program whose name translates roughly into “the foundation for reinventing oneself.” A nonprofit arm of Komatsu Cummins Chile, it encompasses training programs that start inside correctional facilities and continue as participants complete their sentences and seek to join the workforce.

Troya and her team were supporting a critical piece of the foundation’s mission: a real job with a real paycheck. For Leal and many like him who had broken the law, it was an option unthinkable earlier in life.

“It was a profound experience,” Troya said. “We ended up creating a complete journey together. From my perspective, working with him, learning, witnessing his growth and supporting him through his low phases completely changed my outlook on life.”

Born in Ecuador, Troya studied business administration and got her start in marketing before joining Siemens as a strategy consultant. That job brought her to Chile, where she earned her MBA. Since joining Komatsu Cummins Chile in 2012, she has filled various management roles in Controlling and Finance. Today, she is the Strategy and Controlling Manager for Cummins, one of the companies in the Komatsu Cummins group.

Early in her time there, one of Troya’s supervisors asked her to take on duties with corporate social responsibility, diversity and inclusion. “I said, ‘What? I don’t have the experience.’ But I was told no, no, no, if you want to be a leader here, this is your responsibility.”

Not long afterward, she was asked if Leal could be placed on her team as an intern. The young man had enrolled in the foundation’s training programs while serving his sentence in a juvenile detention center. There, he learned technical skills and was coached in the soft skills he’d need in a job. At 19, Leal was adjusting to a new life. When he learned that he qualified for a foundation internship, he asked for a position that involved office work instead of technical labor.

It was Troya’s first experience with the foundation and its work and, although she didn’t know it at the time, there would be many more.

In the months that followed, challenges arose for Troya’s team and for Leal — the team as they adjusted to a someone whose life experiences were so unlike theirs, and Leal as he adjusted to a world he had no frame of reference for.

Later, as the team worked with other foundation interns, they realized some of their new colleague’s struggles were common to anyone coming from tough circumstances and often still living in them. Some were seemingly simple, such as working a regular schedule five days a week and feeling a sense of belonging. Other problems they encountered with interns they mentored were thornier — a relapse into drug use, a relative hospitalized by a stabbing, a home barricaded against a violent gang.

When problems like these arose, foundation specialists stepped in with guidance. They also helped with job skills, such as the time Troya’s team realized Leal’s written language skills were inconsistent with his spoken communication. Foundation staff assessed the issue and helped address it. “Witnessing how the specialists at the foundation — people full of love and hope — helped people get back on their feet was truly inspiring.”

Getting to know her Fundación Reinventarse interns brought profound shifts in Troya’s beliefs and assumptions. “It is easy to point fingers and judge young offenders, but getting to know their lives and having the opportunity to build a real bond was transformative for me.” Each foundation intern she has worked with “brought a better understanding of our society. It also made me realize that being part of the transformation of one person’s life also means impacting their entire environment — their family and friends.”

After Leal’s internship ended, Troya offered him an administrative job. He accepted, received several promotions, then landed other jobs in the organization. Ten years after he first walked into Troya’s office, Leal remains at Komatsu Cummins, working in the Product Support Group as a planning analyst. Troya keeps in close touch with him.

“What we gave to him was a huge change of life. But what he gave was an amazing understanding about his situation.”

What started with Troya saying “I don’t have the experience” is now something she describes as a gift. She coordinates Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and leads the Diversity and Inclusion Council for Distribuidora Cummins, one of the Komatsu Cummins companies in Chile. She and her team have helped the foundation launch and support a customer call center at a women’s correctional facility and a parts-repair workshop at a juvenile facility.

At every step, they have experienced top-down support and assistance from many in the Komatsu Cummins organization.

It’s one benefit of working at Komatsu Cummins Chile, she said. "Here in Chile, we experience three cultures in one — the Chilean culture, the Komatsu culture and the Cummins culture. The combination of these three is invaluable for personal and professional development.”

By creating a pathway from prison life to work life through the foundation, it benefits the business and the community. “The phrase ‘living our values’ truly comes to life here. Any idea that aligns with our values and business objectives is always welcome. That, to me, is a tremendous gift.”