This program has been renamed to Today’s Interns, Tomorrow’s Professionals (TIP). 

Eight years ago, Jeffrey, then a junior enrolled in South Boston’s Excel High School, could see graduation nearing but was unsure of his job prospects. Through a career counselor at the school, he learned of the Boston Fed’s summer internship program and following graduation, began his Boston Fed career. Today, Jeffrey is a full time technician in the Bank’s information technology group and is described as dependable and talented by his supervisor.

Jeffrey’s experience is not unique, due in part to the Boston Fed’s summer FinTech Internship Program for high school students.

Launched in 2006, the FinTech initiative evolved from a restructuring of the Summer Jobs Program started by the Boston Fed in 1982 in partnership with the Boston Private Industry Council (PIC). FinTech seeks to support the upward social and economic mobility of Greater Boston’s low- and moderate-income youth with the goal of long-term employment and financial stability. Since 2006, nine FinTech interns have been hired as permanent employees and seven more have benefited from extended internships in the Bank.

“I am financially stable, can manage my money, and I have no grave worries,” Jeffrey said, attributing his stability to the support, encouragement, and training he received from program administrators and supervisors.

Anh joined the program in 2007, also from Excel High School. A native of Vietnam, she worked diligently to learn English and even benefitted from tutoring offered at the Bank. At her supervisor’s suggestion, she participated in an in-house mentoring program where her Boston Fed mentor encouraged her to speak up for herself, ask questions, and remain focused.

Anh believes the internship program, coupled with other learning opportunities that enhanced her hard and soft skills, helped her become more outgoing. Her newfound confidence enabled her to graduate from high school as class valedictorian, obtain her undergraduate degree, and parlay her Bank internship into permanent employment. Anh was recently promoted to Senior Business Services Analyst within the Bank’s Real Estate Services Group.

Dewars became a FinTech participant in the summer of 2015, as a rising senior at Boston’s Madison Park Vocational High School. As a young boy, he and his family emigrated from Puerto Rico to Florida and later to Massachusetts, in search of new opportunities. Today, Dewars is interested in becoming a master electrician and believes FinTech will provide him with the winning combination of on-the-job vocational skills and classroom learning needed to achieve this goal.  

According to Dewars, exposure to the Bank’s environment has enhanced his maturity level and professionalism. He says he absorbs the advice of his supervisors and peer-mentors, and believes the information and relationships will have long-lasting benefits. 

Read more about the Boston Fed’s TIP internship program.