The 2024 Bank of America Phoenix Student Leaders (pictured left to right) Valeria Lopez Marquez, Lily Bethay, Kaleb Gebresillasie, Nicholas Larrain and Louisiana Borbon spent the summer interning at various Boys and Girls Club of the Valley locations (submitted photo).
In August, Bank of America announced that five Phoenix high school juniors and seniors were selected as Student Leaders, an eight-week, paid summer internship connecting students to employment, skills development and service. These community-minded students gained practical work and leadership experience and received financial education coaching from Bank of America’s Better Money Habits curriculum, while working with a local nonprofit, all while earning competitive wages.
“By providing career and leadership development opportunities for teens for 20 years, we continue to help develop the next generation of skilled workforce that is essential to the region’s long-term economic growth,” said Scott Vanderpool, president, Bank of America Phoenix. “These extraordinary young leaders selected for the Student Leaders program gain practical work and life experience, but the community in return gains help from local nonprofits and a diverse group of young talent ready to engage their communities as they enter the local workforce.”
The class of 2024 Phoenix Bank of America Student Leaders included two from North Central area schools. Nicholas Larrain is a rising senior from Brophy College Preparatory and after serving 50 hours of community service in “The Zone,” he started his own independent research project with hopes to address youth homelessness by identifying its root causes and learning the support needed to help them out of it.
Kaleb Gebresillasie is a rising senior from Phoenix Country Day School, and one of 10 students in Arizona selected to serve on the Board of Education’s Youth Advisory Board. He advocates for policies addressing racial discrimination, civics education and financial literacy in schools, driven by his dedication to fostering a more equitable and inclusive educational environment.
The other Student Leaders are Lily Bethay, a rising senior from Notre Dame Preparatory High School, Louisiana Borbon, a recent graduate from Western School of Science and Technology, and Valeria Lopez Marquez, a recent graduate from Maryvale High School. All of the students spent their summer interning with Boys and Girls Clubs of the Valley at club locations across the market, interacting with BGC leadership, staff and other youth participating in summer programming.
As part of the prestigious internship, the students recently returned from a week-long, all expenses paid, national leadership summit in Washington, D.C. to learn how nonprofits, governments and businesses collaborate to meet local needs.
This is the 20th year Bank of America has offered this competitive paid intern program in Phoenix, with 100 high school students having been selected as Student Leaders since the program began in 2004. Learn more at https://about.bankofamerica.com/en/making-an-impact/student-leaders.
