Bank of America Helps Teens Build Skills for Workforce Success Through Paid Summer Jobs

Inland Empire, CA— Bank of America today announced that five high school students from the Inland Empire community have been selected as Student Leaders (#BofAStudentLeaders). This signature philanthropic program offers young people who are passionate about improving the community an opportunity to build their workforce and leadership skills through a paid summer internship at some of the most impactful organizations in Inland Empire and participation in a national leadership summit in Washington, D.C. The organizations that this year’s student leaders are interning at include the following: Riverside Art Museum, Boys and Girls Club of Southwest County, Boys and Girls Club Greater Redlands/Riverside and Arrowhead and Inland Empire United Way.

The Five Inland Empire Student Leaders Are:

• Naomi Garcia of Riverside and senior at La Sierra High School
• Simmy Grewal of San Bernardino and senior at Cajon High School
• Ethan Johnstone of Temecula and junior at Chaparral High School
• Annique Session of Redlands and senior at Redlands East Valley High School
• Francisco Villagomez-Luna and senior at Rancho Cucamonga High School

Today, approximately 8.7 percent of young people ages 16 to 24 are unemployed, and the rate is often in the double digits for African-American and Hispanic youth from underserved communities. Paid youth employment programs that connect young adults to education, training and the job market can help them build workforce skills while also enabling at-risk youth to avoid juvenile delinquency.

Through Student Leaders, Bank of America helps young people gain work experience, broaden their perspective on how nonprofits achieve their mission and advance their civic engagement. Bank of America Student Leaders will also work with bank volunteers on financial management skills including budgeting and savings. At the leadership summit in Washington, D.C. (July 8-13), students will join 225 other young people from across the country to build advocacy and inclusive leadership skills, develop a peer network that can advance their future career success meet with members of Congress and participate in a service-learning project at the American Red Cross.

“We recognize that connecting young people to meaningful early employment can help them chart a path for career success and advance the long-term success of our community,” said Al Arguello, Bank of America Inland Empire market president.There are more than 65 student alumni from Inland Empire, and more than 3,000 Student Leaders across the country who have participated in the program since 2004.

This summer, as part of its three-year, $40 million commitment to connect youth and young adults to skills, training and jobs, Bank of America is investing more than $3.6 million in funding to support 2,300 summer jobs for teens across the country, with a particular focus on young people from low-income families. Bank of America has also partnered with Khan Academy to provide information and tools to help young adults learn about careers and personal finance through Better Money Habits®, its financial wellness and education platform.

About Bank of America

At Bank of America, we’re guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Learn more at about.bankofamerica.com, and connect with us on Twitter (@BofA_News).