Student leadership program in Las Vegas inspires teens’ growth into leaders

By Katie Ann McCarver Monday, August 26, 2024 – 2 a.m.

Ezzah Tariq, a senior at The Meadows School in Summerlin, hopes to go to college on a pre-law track. And thanks to a student-leadership program she just completed, Tariq also wants to work with nonprofits and be a voice on their behalf.

Tariq was one of four local high school students chosen for Bank of America’s Student Leaders program, which this year celebrated its 20th anniversary in Las Vegas. Students in the program participated in a paid internship with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada and a leadership summit in Washington, D.C.

“When I heard that they were offering this internship, I was just so excited to apply and even more to get in,” Tariq said. “And I’ve just grown so much from this internship, and it’s really aligned and really emphasized my interest in politics and social activism going forward.”

Students in the program learned about different aspects of the Boys & Girls Clubs, she said, from the nonprofit’s management to human resources. They also each got to design and implement their own “program project,” which for Tariq was “self-expression and creativity through clay.”

The project, her own innovation, involved looking at how “we represent ourselves and what’s important to us,” and how to express that through clay creations, Tariq said.

“For me, culture, identity, self (and) creativity are values that are extremely important,” she said. “And to be able to share those with the members was amazing.”

The second part of the program was the weeklong trip to D.C., during which Tariq and her peers met with senators and a diverse group of panelists who talked about current issues such as mental health, financial literacy and more.

The Student Leaders program allows participants to experience the workforce and gauge their opportunities for the future, said Dori-Ann Vuong, community relations manager at Bank of America.

“When you think of our youth, you have to think about—what do we provide them, and how can we equip them for a better future?” she said. “And sometimes we as parents, or sometimes we as brothers or sisters, how do we teach them how to be prepared for the workspace?”

What she’s heard from participants in the program is that they’re thankful for the opportunity and find the experience unexpectedly unique. Anyone who gets into the program is accomplished and involved in school and their community, she said, but a paid internship with a prominent nonprofit is still out of their element.

In the program, participants get to think outside the box and learn differently, she said.

“The opportunity is to learn more,” Vuong said. “I think the opportunity is to learn about leadership outside of what you have done in school, because a lot of the leadership they learn in school is given by curriculum.”

With two decades of Student Leaders under its belt, every year Bank of America conducts the program it gets better, Vuong said. The organization always looks at how it can elevate its offerings, she added, and this year the program had over 100 applications from students.

“When you think of 20 years, we’re doing something really well because we’re still capturing that attention generationally down the line,” she said. “It’s moving in the right direction.”

Vuong said she believes there’s at least another 20 years in the program’s future, noting that applications for next year’s program open in October.

Tariq encouraged eligible students to apply.

“The experiences that (students) get, especially if you’re interested in leadership, political activism, business, really the program (encapsulates) all of them, and you’re able to get experiences that you wouldn’t really get anywhere else,” she said.

The biggest lesson Tariq learned working at the Boys & Girls Clubs, she said, was how to communicate in a way that different people will understand you.

“I feel like that’s something that’s huge, not only when working with kids, but just everybody—that you have to be adaptable, especially when you’re a leader,” she said. “And that’s something that I hope to continue throughout my senior year and the rest of my life.”