Shirley Zhu
Shirley Zhu
Bank of America Student Leaders Program
In the summer of 2020, I was a Bank of America Student Leader. This program normally includes a 8-week internship with a trip to Washington, DC for a national leadership summit.
Despite that the pandemic rocked the boat, I still had a memorable experience. I had a 6-week virtual internship and participated in many webinars of thoughtful, engaging discussions.
Internship
I interned with the Wesley Community Center (WCC), a Houston nonprofit.
The focus of my internship was creating a Story Bank. As a local nonprofit focused on building the community, the Wesley Community Center wanted promote and share stories of progress and success. A story bank would also help them record anecdotes that can be detailed in news features and grant proposals.
Over the course of my internship, I worked with 4 other Houston Student Leaders to build a system for WCC to collect stories from their staff.
Webinars and Discussions
Not only did I have intellectually simulating conversations with Student Leaders across America, but I also got to engage with world leaders. Here I have listed the most notable webinars:
Food Insecurity in America
A conversation with Kerry Sullivan, President of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation; Claire
Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America and Nate Mook, CEO of World Central Kitchen on how they
are meeting the needs of people in these unprecedented times.
My key takeaways:
- Food is an enabling factor. If people spend the entire day worrying about where to get food, then they won’t be able to spend time in other areas like education and job hunting.
- Food insecurity is a symptom of a bigger problem.
- We can’t just dump all responsibility on the food banks, because while they are critical, they need support.
The Opportunity of Education: College Behind Bars
A conversation with filmmakers Sarah Botstein and Lynn Novick, and Bard Prison Initiative alum Jule Hall for a conversation focused on the film College Behind Bars and the transformative power of education.
My key takeaways:
- Education is a transformative power.
- College Behind Bars is an excellent film that not only shows the positive change from education in prison, but also portrays the opposition that exists.
- Stigma against ex-convicts exists even for those with a college degree.
- Three most important factors for re-entry: 1) job, 2) healthcare, 3) housing.
Implicit Bias
A conversation with Cynthia Bowman, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Bank of America, and the Ad Council focused on recognizing, addressing and overcoming implicit bias.
My key takeaways:
- Listen to understand.
- Identify the privilege I already have.
- Normalize the opposite of stereotypes.
Racial Equity in America
A conversation for Student Leaders between Andrew Plepler, Global Head of ESG at Bank of America and Wade Henderson, Immediate Past President of the Leadership Council of Civil and Human Rights, focused on racial equity in America.
My key takeaways:
- You will misinterpret the phenomenon occurring today if you don’t understand the history
- People tend to resist engaging in an activity that puts them at risk or constitutes a great level of change
- It is important to come to terms to the changes that are necessary - have difficult conversations about race with those who you love