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June 24, 2024

Congratulations to the 2024 Graduates of VNB’s Finance Career & Leadership Academy!

The 2024 Finance Career & Leadership Academy (FCLA, Academy) Graduation Ceremony and Dinner took place in Charlottesville on Friday, June 14th, at Carmello’s Restaurant. During the evening’s proceedings, Virginia National Bank (VNB) honored the 2024 Academy’s graduates along with former graduates that have gone on to further milestones on their post-secondary educational path as part of VNB’s ongoing educational programs. This was the FCLA’s third year to graduate students.

(From left to right) The 2024 FCLA graduates: Sabrina Bialy, Kayden Wright, Shrey Panicker, Colin Douthit, Gabriella Gonzalez, Kate Quinn, Jack Viccellio, Eleanor Powers, Evie Porter, and Albina Piskunova.

 

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Sabrina Bialy was recognized as valedictorian of the 2024 FCLA and presented with her graduation certificate by Meghan Crider (Director of Educational Programs, Vice President).
 

 

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Evie Porter was honored as salutatorian for the 2024 FCLA.
 

 

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John Hornsby (2019 FCLA graduate, 2020 VNB College Program – Business Banking/Staff Development Certification graduate, and current VNB credit analyst) was presented with his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Banking (BSBAB), from St. Joseph’s College.
 

 

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Jack Flemming (2023 FCLA graduate and current VNB credit administrator) and Summer Weakley (2023 FCLA graduate and current VNB operations specialist) were presented with their College Program – Business Banking/Staff Development certificates. While continuing to fulfill their job duties, both Jack and Summer are in the process of obtaining their BSBAB degrees and are on track to complete their degrees before they are 20 years old. 

 

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The Finance Career & Leadership Academy is a free instructional program designed to not only provide advanced personal finance and employment readiness training, but also a path to career opportunities in banking for high school juniors and seniors within our communities. The Academy runs from February into June. The most promising and top performing students from the Academy are considered for VNB’s College Program (the Business Banking/Staff Development Program).

The College Program is a bank-sponsored, comprehensive, free training program that consists of 15 courses of which 13 are accredited college/university courses (39 credit hours that are transferable to a 2 or 4-year college/university) and work projects. Participants receive fulltime pay with full fringe benefits (includes 401k with company match) while completing the program and, if successful in the program, receive the CFTEA/VNB certification in Business Banking/Staff Development as well as have the potential opportunity for a career with VNB. Also, once employed, should they choose, they may go on to complete a 2 or 4-year degree at the company’s expense.