INDIANAPOLIS — A nationwide internship is connecting central Indiana teens to a local nonprofit serving an Indianapolis neighborhood.
"I'm just so happy I can directly see my impact," said Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School soon-to-be senior Safiyah Diallo.
Diallo is one of three Hoosier interns selected as part of the Bank of America Student Leaders program.
The program offers an eight-week, paid summer internship, complete with firsthand experience serving local communities.
Geordan Coleman, with Bank of America, said the opportunity is all about understanding the inner workings of a nonprofit while building job-readiness skills for students.
"It's not just going out and asking for dollars," Coleman said. "It is more than that, and these young people have the ability to do this."
"I was fascinated by that direct leadership experience," Diallo said. "So when I applied and found out I got in, I was just so excited about this amazing opportunity."
This summer, Diallo and her fellow Hoosier interns, Tim Adams and Jasmin Walker, are working with Christamore House, a nonprofit serving residents in the Haughville neighborhood on Indy's west side.
"I appreciate all of the people here at Christamore House," Diallo said. "It takes a lot of strength to come together and help this community."
Walker, a recent graduate of Achieve Virtual Education Academy, said she also appreciates the opportunity to work directly with the staff and its clients.
Some of the teens' responsibilities include helping manage cases for families seeking services, mentoring children enrolled in summer programs and even launching their own marketing projects.
In fact, the students helped organize a free summer festival and resource fair for the neighborhood in July.
Diallo, Adams and Walker also help families collect items from the diaper pantry.
"This internship has taught me a lot about how to read body language," said Adams, a 2023 graduate of Brebeuf Jesuit. "It has taught me how to deal with different emotions, deal with circumstances. I'll be able to take those lessons that I learned here and apply those in the future."
"Like Tim said, getting to talk to people and hear their experiences, it's really helpful," Diallo said. "That social work experience really has allowed me to see other people's situations, and also take in what I've been blessed with and what I have right now."
Charnea Wilson, lead case manager at Christamore House, said the teens learned quite a bit during their summer internship.
"It's really good, because it gives the students that are from a different background a chance to see the community that we serve here," Wilson said.
At the end of the summer internship, Bank of America Student Leaders will spend one week in Washington, D.C. for an all-expenses-paid national leadership summit.
"It is a full week of understanding community engagement and understanding 'student leader' in a different perspective," Coleman said.
"I'm really excited about D.C.," Diallo said. "I think it's going to be really nice."
"Even though I've been there, I'm excited to go again," Adams said. "It's our nation's capital. I'm excited to explore what it has to offer."
According to Coleman, 300 student leaders from across the country will attend the summit, which is the first national meeting since 2019, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"The thing I'm most excited about (is) meeting these people," Walker said, who leaves for D.C. on Monday, July 17 alongside her fellow interns. "I'm really glad that I was able to do this program."
"Shoutout to Bank of America," Adams said. "Thank you for this opportunity."
Applications for next year's program will open in late 2023.
"The application is open for eight weeks," Coleman said. "After that, there is an external and internal committee. Everything is voted on, and then, these individuals are selected."
The 2024 Student Leaders program will mark the 20th year for the organization nationwide.
Here in Indianapolis, Adams said he plans to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta this fall, where he wants to major in Computer Science.
Walker will stay in the Indianapolis area to attend IUPUI in the fall.
After her senior year at Brebeuf, Diallo plans to pursue a degree in either political science of international relations.