Five New Jersey Teens Selected as Bank of America 2023 Student Leaders

New Jersey – Bank of America has selected five New Jersey high school rising seniors as Student Leaders® (#BofAStudentLeaders), an eight-week paid summer internship providing students with first-hand experience in serving their communities. The students will develop leadership, practical workforce and civic engagement skills working with local Boys & Girls Clubs across four New Jersey counties, including Essex, and Elijah’s Promise. Last week, the students traveled to Washington D.C. for a week-long, all expenses paid, national leadership summit.

The Student Leaders program, which started in 2004, recognizes 300 community-focused juniors and seniors from across the U.S. annually. The New Jersey based Student Leaders are participating in programming at Boys & Girls Clubs that includes supervising youth Club members, promoting Club programs to the local community, preparing membership tracking reports, planning and implementing special events, shadowing senior staff members, and more. As part of the program, they will earn $17 per hour.

“The teens selected for this program are already having an impact at their schools, but may have lacked the opportunity to apply those skills to the workforce until now,” said Alberto Garofalo, president, Bank of America New Jersey. “Our hope is that they will recognize just how much of an impact they can have at these organizations, and will continue to leave their mark on the community long after graduation.”

Bank of America’s selected Student Leaders and partner organizations are:

• Boys & Girls Club of Newark
  • Brian Ametekpor from Irvington, Essex County Donald M. Payne Senior School of Technology
  • Dakauri Pinckney from East Orange, Gill St. Bernard’s School
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Hudson County
  • Shivali Patel from Jersey City, Ronald E. McNair Academic High School
• Elijah’s Promise
  • Areebah Alam from Highland Park, Highland Park High School
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Paterson & Passaic
  • Anabelle Jerome from Paterson, Passaic County Technical Vocational Schools

“Clubs focus on enabling all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens” said Susan Haspel, state director, Boys & Girls Clubs in New Jersey. “What better way to learn those skills than through peer-to-peer interaction, all while our Student Leaders gain foundational work skills and leadership experiences to bring with them for the rest of their lives.”

“At Elijah’s Promise we do more than feed people – we change lives,” said Michelle Wilson, executive director Elijah’s Promise. “With the addition of a talented Student Leader, we’re already having an even bigger impact this summer.”

The Student Leaders are returning from a week-long, all expenses paid, national leadership summit in Washington, D.C., focused on the power of cross-sector collaboration and community advocacy. At the first in-person Summit since 2019, Student Leaders from across the nation discuss the importance of civic engagement and meet with members of Congress.

Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 68 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 3,900 retail financial centers, approximately 15,000 ATMs and award-winning digital banking with approximately 56 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

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