The Time is Now for Future Bank Leaders Program
John Sullivan
NCBA
The North Carolina Bankers Association (NCBA) is partnering with Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) and NC banks on the Future Bank Leaders program. The goal of this custom-designed initiative is to attract undergraduates to the dynamic, fast-changing world of modern banking, while supporting Tar Heel state banks by developing the next generation of high-quality talent.
Specifically, Future Bank Leaders is providing HBCU students with unique opportunities to learn and develop the knowledge and skills required to succeed in an exciting financial services career. It features face to face and online learning, expert presentations, scholarship opportunities, internships, mentoring and behind-the-scenes tours of financial institutions.
The program offers vast resources to partnering HBCUs, including:
- Introduction to the key concepts of banking and credit
- Opportunity for students to earn the industry-recognized Risk Management Association (RMA) Credit Essentials Certificate (CEC)
- Faculty support via bankers as guest instructors
- Electronic materials including instructor guides, textbooks, workbooks, case studies
- Scholarships
- Internships
- Mentoring from senior bank leaders
- Networking with peers and banking professionals
- One-on-one career guidance
In addition to the HBCUs, banks benefit because they find that as new hires, students earning the RMA CEC credential typically have a nine-month advantage in knowledge and skill set compared to those that don’t.
The benefits of the Future Bank Leaders program are numerous and importantly, available at no cost to HBCUs and students. Scholarships per academic year are available for qualified students, and those earning the CEC certificate demonstrate a command of content and material that often leads to higher starting salaries. The result is greater opportunities for these students to secure quality jobs upon graduation, as they begin their journey to achieving sustained success in the banking industry.
For banks, there is tremendous value in assisting HBCU students in launching exciting, rewarding careers in banking because this supports their talent management strategies by providing a pipe-line of emerging, high-caliber, diverse future leaders. It also creates opportunities for current executives to engage, mentor and impact HBCU students.
“The objective of the program — to attract future business leaders with diverse talent to our industry — is very important,” says Michelle Andrews, Senior Vice President & Director Credit Analysis, at First Citizens Bank. “That it has already been considered to expose these future leaders to career bankers of color is also important for their encouragement, mentorship, and ongoing career growth.”
For more information and to participate in the Future Bank Leaders program please contact John Sullivan by phone at 919-236-3246 or email at johns@ncbankers.org.