Canal Alliance Launches Inaugural Student Leader Internship Program with Bank of America, Supporting Local Youth Through Leadership and Community Impact 

This summer, Canal Alliance successfully launched its Student Leader Internship Program in partnership with the Bank of America Student Leaders initiative. Interns were oriented to the organization’s mission to break the generational cycle of poverty for Latino immigrants, and its core values of equity, accountability, community, and transformation. 

Canal Alliance’s summer interns, Maya and Samantha, both rising high school seniors. Maya, of San Rafael High School, came to us with an interest in international law. Samantha, of Marin Academy wanted to explore her interest in business administration.  

“I had heard about Canal Alliance through some of my friends and classmates that came to the UP! program and I thought it was great what they were doing,” said Maya.  

“I go to Next Generation Scholars and that was the way I learned about Canal Alliance. Canal Alliance is very well known and also people from my school attended the UP! program,” mentioned Samantha.  

When reflecting on their internship with Canal Alliance, which lasted 8 weeks, both Maya and Samantha shared that they loved working in the atmosphere Canal Alliance provides for employees and clients.  

“I felt everyone was very friendly and willing to help. Everyone greeted each other with such kindness and respect. The people we worked under gave us trust and were never overbearing; they made us feel like we belonged,” reflects Maya as she remembers how their ideas were always taken into consideration during meetings, which resulted in her never feeling left out. 

“Our supervisor Leo Cuevas was amazing! We made mistakes along the way, but he was always there to guide us and reassure us we are all a team. This also gave us great exposure to what it would be like to work in an office setting helping the community,” said Samantha enthusiastically.  

During this 8-week program interns participated in leadership development through workshops, public speaking opportunities, and project-based work. They were involved in staff meetings, shadowed Canal Alliance staff across departments, and completed a final presentation reflecting on their growth and contributions. 

“This was a great opportunity for us to bring in students from the community to show them what it’s like to work in a setting like ours. We really enjoyed having Maya and Samantha as they were very flexible, hardworking and passionate about their work. We hope to next year be able to do something like this again,” shared James Sarria, Director of Education & Career.