Mentor Programs | News

Business Students School Bank Execs on Social Media

• By Kanoe Namahoe
• 10/01/13

A group of executives from global bank Citi will receive a practical education about social media and digital technologies, thanks to a new reverse mentor program launching this month through the University of Miami School of Business.

Citi has designed a six-month mentor program that pairs 15 bank executives with students – juniors, seniors, or MBAs -- from the School of Business. The two-person teams will work together on projects including "mobile payment and mobile wallet trends; communicating with millennial customers; the social media relationship between consumers and the banking industry and its impact on Citi; the value proposition for prospective Citi millennial employees; and the firm’s digital retail business," according to a statement issued by the company. Meetings will take place in person as well as online. The executives participating in the program will be selected from various departments in the bank's Latin American regional office.

"Reverse mentoring is a very innovative practice, especially in the banking industry," said Alvaro Marquez, head of human resources for Citi Latin America. "We believe in the valuable contribution that young students can offer through their fresh perspective and we expect to take advantage of that to fine-tune our digital strategy for the next ten or fifteen years."

As part of the program, students will develop real-world skills on presentation, management, and design thinking through training sponsored by the bank. The program, according to Eugene Anderson, who serves as dean at the business school, is mutually beneficial to the students and Citi executives.

"We are very fortunate to partner with Citi on this program, which we believe will not only bring value to the firm and its digital media strategies, but will enable our students to gain valuable hands-on experience in the business world," explains Anderson. "It is through such experiential learning that our students can test, develop and refine the leadership, networking, presentation and other skills they need to be successful in today’s increasingly competitive business environment."