I’ve always had a passion for helping others in my community. Growing up watching my mother raising us in a one parent home and being the best mother possible, has been my inspiration. My mother had a strong love for us and for others. She cared for children and elders. We were not the perfect financially fit family, but the caring and loving out-weighted all the imperfections of our shortages.
My role at Union Bank gives me the opportunity to exercise these characteristics to serve the community, people and students in need for motivation, direction, providing financial education, leadership, adding value and direction.
At Union Bank, we believe in empowering communities to be stronger and more resilient. One example of that is in our student-run branches. Union Bank is the only bank on the West Coast to operate fully functioning bank branches inside high schools, run by actual student bankers. I am proud to be the branch manager of the student-run branch at Crenshaw High School. I’ve served in this role, since the branch opened in the Spring of 2014. Throughout the last six years I’ve remained committed to teaching young students the skills not only to excel in managing their personal finances, but also the life skills that will prepare them to succeed in life.
And in my role in the community, my purpose is to help, support worthy causes, be the best friend ever to my students and try my best to be a positive role model. I have an endless passion for giving back and volunteering in the community, and in particular; I enjoy interacting with people from all walks of life and all in all kinds of financial circumstances.
I am so proud of all the students that have gone through our student banker program because it has opened their eyes to all their potential once they graduate from high schools. Throughout the years, I have seen that transformation firsthand. Some student bankers started the school year without any definitive plans after graduation, and after completing the internship in our student branch, they had firm plans to pursue a college education. In fact, many of our students have been accepted to some of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the state and in the country.
I think by empowering today’s youth to gain responsible money management skills, such as saving, budgeting, investing and even giving back to charitable causes we are helping set them up for a future filled with hope and prosperity.
The pandemic has completely changed our lives. There’s an overall feeling of being stuck in the present, combined with the inability to plan. This is uncomfortable…. amid the crisis, it is hard to imagine a future that looks different the present. Our mobility has become restricted. But to me, all this serves as inspiration, I must carry on and be my best self, even in this present reality.
To learn more about what Union Bank does every day in service to local communities, I invite you to visit https://www.unionbank.com/about-us/social-responsibility.
Vernell Taylor Shares Her Passion for Helping and Caring for Other People
Assistant Vice President and Community Outreach Specialist at the Union Bank Crenshaw High School Student Branch.
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