News Release

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Minority, female high school students explore finance careers at youth institute

CHAPEL HILL – A new program designed to attract minority or female high school students to business careers graduated its first class June 22 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.

The Financial Futures Foundation established an alliance with UNC Kenan-Flagler to offer the inaugural Financial Futures/UNC Kenan-Flagler Youth Institute June 11-22. The program was designed to help minority and female students learn about the career opportunities in business and, in particular, in the financial services industry.

The Financial Futures program is sponsored by The Financial Futures Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 2007.

“We know that the financial services industry offers wonderful career opportunities —and that there is a shortage of women and minorities working in the field today,” said Franklin E. McCain, Jr., executive director of The Financial Futures Foundation. “Our aim is to introduce the idea of working in business to young people who might not have the advantages to know what to study and how to follow such a career path.”
 
Twenty-five high school students from Cary, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro and Rocky Mount learned about business from UNC Kenan-Flagler professors.

“We are honored to partner with the Financial Futures Foundation to provide high school students with knowledge about the exciting career opportunities in business,” said Dean Steve Jones.  

During the first week, students learned about the basics of business and the economy, ethics, entrepreneurship, teamwork and communication. They traveled to Greensboro to visit American Express, where they met with senior vice president Michelle Gethers-Clark and toured the facilities. Gethers-Clark also gave the keynote address at their graduation luncheon.

Students “job shadowed” financial services executives during the second week in an exercise that bridged their classroom instruction and exposed them to typical working environments. They also heard about careers in finance from a variety of financial services executives. At end of the program, the students participated in a graduation ceremony with their families at UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center at Meadowmont.

Parish Capital Advisors LLP of Chapel Hill was a significant financial contributor to the Financial Futures/UNC Kenan-Flagler Youth Institute. Parish Capital founders James Mason, Wendell McCain and Charles Merritt all are Carolina graduates.

“We supported the Financial Futures/UNC Kenan-Flagler Youth Institute because the goals of the program are near and dear to our hearts,” said Merritt. “We value greater diversity and better representation of women and minorities in the financial services, and we hope that others will see the value in this program as well. We have all been helped along in our careers by many people in many ways, and this is one way we can give back to young people who might otherwise never be exposed to our industry.”

The participating students and their high schools follow.

2007 Financial Futures/UNC Kenan-Flagler Youth Institute graduates:

Cary
Cary Christian School
Will Jackson                            
William Motley III                   

Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill High School
Alice Cruz                               
Charles Harris                         
Mariah Norris                          
Krina Patel                              
Lavanya Rao               
Joyah Watkins

Charlotte
Providence Senior High School
Courtney Darrington                
Jillian Duke                                          
Kimberly Stratford                               
Mecan Williams                                   
Independence High School
Charles Dorsey
North Mecklenburg High School
Alexandra Gonzalez                 
Khrystyne Jones                                  

Durham
Hillside High School
Shannon Daye             
Terry Deshazo II
Alisha Williams                        
Southern High School
Lamar Parker                          
Micaiah Satterwhite                 
Evan Springfield-Cobb            
Leroy Wells                             

Greensboro
Ragsdale High School
Marty Hepburn
Grimsley High School  
Colbert Nead                          

Rocky Mount
North Edgecombe High School
Cedric Bynum

Financial Futures Foundation contact: Frank McCain, (919) 442-2100.
Kenan-Flagler Business School contacts: Allison Adams, (919) 962-7235 or aadams@unc.edu; Allison Reid, (919) 962-8951 or allison_reid@unc.edu
News Services contact: Susan Houston (919) 962-8415 or susan_houston@unc.edu