Broward County Celebrates 20 Years of Connecting Teens to Paid Internships
By Brandon Grant
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Bank of America recently announced four Broward County high school students were selected as Student Leaders® (#BofAStudentLeaders), 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 through Bank of America’s Better Money Habits curriculum, while working with local nonprofits and earning competitive wages.
This is the 20th year Bank of America has offered this competitive paid intern program in Broward County, with high school students selected as Student Leaders every year since the program began in 2004.
“By providing career and leadership development opportunities for teens for 20 years, we continue to help develop the next generation of skilled workforce, which is essential to the region’s long-term economic growth,” said Lori Chevy, president, Bank of America Fort Lauderdale. “The exceptional teens selected for the Student Leaders program will not only gain practical work and life experience, but the community in turn will gain help from local nonprofits and a diverse pipeline of talent as these young adults enter the local workforce.”
The Broward County Student Leaders participated in community service and leadership activities with the YMCA of South Florida.
The class of 2024 Broward County Bank of America Student Leaders are:
Laura Morejon Rodriguez is a senior at Piper High School in Fort Lauderdale whose passion for addressing alarming rates of overdoses in her community inspired her to form Drug Abuse Prevention (DAP) South Florida, a non-profit dedicated to helping those struggling with addiction. Through this organization, Laura has helped fundraise and volunteer at local centers to provide the guidance and resources that can help transform lives.
Eleasha Augustin is a recent graduate from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Coral Springs and served as president of Mentoring Tomorrow’s Leaders, a peer-to-peer mentoring program that serves youth who are at-risk for not graduating or leaving school early. Through working with her mentees on homework, home situations and more, Eleasha has been inspired to continue to help others and take part in something bigger than herself.
Sebastian Garcia Gutierrez is a senior at the College Academy at Broward College who has helped lead his student government in collecting food and supply bags for the homeless, while also taking steps to honor local veterans. As a leader within the Political Science Club, Sebastian has aided students in understanding their civic duties by holding events with local judges and politicians, as well as coordinating voter registration drives.
Vyom Mishra is a senior at the Broward Campus of American Heritage Schools who founded a nonprofit called Skip the Jargon to promote financial literacy and educate underserved communities on the value of investing. To date, over 2,000 high school students around the world have participated in the organization by attending guest lectures and contributing content that helps share important financial education materials.
Along with Student Leaders, Bank of America connected teens and young adults to paid jobs and internships through its Summer Youth Employment Program and its Financial Center Apprenticeship program.
During the program, the Student Leaders traveled to Washington, D.C. for a week-long, all-expenses-paid, national leadership summit to learn how nonprofits, governments and businesses collaborate to meet local needs.
