Sierra CiaramellaBank of America is working to provide financial education and professional opportunities to underserved communities through its paid summer internship program.
The interns learn customer service, digital and financial skills through the Bank of America Financial Center Internship Program.
Bank of America works with the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Phoenix to encourage high school and college students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds to participate in the program.
“They are customer-facing and they’re the first people that our clients see as well. So, really their role is to help clients in the lobby digitally and help educate them about the bank’s technology,” said Stacie Terry, Bank of America Division Academy Leader supporting The Academy for Financial Center.
The skills the interns learn throughout the eight-week summer internship are geared to prepare them for future endeavors.
Terry explained that in addition to learning new skills, the interns receive a “financial education so they can be smart about their new hard-earned paychecks and really are set up to win for now and the future.”
The interns earn an hourly wage of $17 and Bank of America works to provide them with the tools they need to be financially aware.
“It’s an example of the bank’s commitment to connecting teens and young adults from the economically disadvantaged backgrounds with the right skills, resources and experience that will help foster that diverse pipeline of talent and to help establish sustainable, well-paying careers down the road. We really want to invest in and help the communities that we are in,” Terry said.
Bank of America also provides two weeks of training at the beginning of the internship and takes them shopping for a professional wardrobe.
The internship program is mutually beneficial.
“We have seen the interns’ skills grow, their confidence, and also our clients like it as well,” Terry said.
Terry explained the interns are helpful in assisting clients with Bank of America’s technology and noted that clients “see the value of having that intern.”
Interns can apply for a position at Bank of America at the end of the internship program to continue their professional development.
Noemi Santaella
Joseph Kavetsky
Guest Contributor
Great opportunity, my friend applied for such program nearly 3 years ago and said that it is invaluable expirience. All in all, now, he is working in the bank and said that at his first year there he always used skills that he got at this internship.