iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Five Indian American high school students of the San Francisco Bay Area have been selected by the Bank of America for an eight-week paid summer internship providing the students with first-hand experience in serving their communities.
Every summer, Bank of America selects some deserving high school students to be part of their Student Leaders program. This year, these five students of Indian descent in the Bay Area were recognized by the program.
Bank of America’s regional executives, Raquel González, President, Bank of America Silicon Valley; Jason Foster, President, Bank of America North Bay; Gioia McCarthy, President, Bank of America San Francisco – East Bay, applauded the students’ exceptional achievements, “Bank of America is steadfast in our commitment to supporting teens and young adults by connecting them to jobs, community engagement opportunities and leadership development. These students are the future of our community, which is why programs like Student Leaders are one way we can provide paid opportunities for them to gain positive employment experience while developing a diverse pipeline of talent as they enter our local workforce.”
Started in 2004, the Student Leaders program recognizes 300 community-focused juniors and seniors from across the U.S. annually. The bank annually connects these more than 300 community-minded high school juniors and seniors from nearly 100 communities to employment, skills development and service. Through paid internships with local nonprofits and participation in a national leadership summit, the students gain practical work and life experience.
The Class of 2022 Bay Area Bank of America Student Leaders are:
Bonisha Maitra from San Ramon (Contra Costa County). She is an incoming senior at San Ramon’s California High School, and she speaks English, Bengali, and Hindi. After being sexually assaulted at age nine in India, Bonisha later started a global nonprofit called Project Sundar – which now has chapters in Singapore, India, and U.S. cities – aimed at educating people about the oppression women in India face.
Kunal Khaware from Dublin (Alameda County) is a graduate of Pleasanton’s The Quarry Lane School, and he’s about to begin a joint undergraduate scholarship program between Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this fall. With a passion for political activism at the community level, he was involved in his high school’s Student Government Association as vice president, elections and publicity chair. He speaks English, Hindi, and Spanish fluently.
Sia Desale, a resident of Dublin (Alameda County), who speaks English and Marathi, is a rising senior at Dublin High School. As an animal advocate, she founded a homemade soap business geared toward supporting animal welfare called Olivesoap, and she’s raised $8,000 (or 27,000 meals for pets) for the East Bay SPCA and other pet-focused organizations.
Priya Sharma of American Canyon (Napa County) has been taking college-level classes through Napa Valley College since she was a high school freshman, and she’ll continue with classes there in the fall. Her interest in the ACLU National Institute – and equality for all – led her to being political chair leader for the Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian Alliance. For four years, Priya, a first-generation American, was a representative for Peer Court, an alternative approach to the traditional juvenile justice system. She speaks English, Punjabi, Hindi, and a bit of Urdu.
