Meet Truist, a familiar bank with a new name—how they’re building better lives in Alabama
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It’s not every day you meet a former Hollywood actress who now runs major initiatives at a bank. But Mary Beth Young has done all that and more. She works at Truist, which formed from a merger of BB&T and SunTrust. Keep reading to learn more of Young’s personal story and how this bank is building stronger lives and communities across our state.
Meet Mary Beth Young, a key player in Truist’s philanthropic efforts
To learn more about Truist and its philanthropic work, we talked with Mary Beth Young. A former actress and nightly news producer, she currently serves as the Alabama Chair for two major initiatives within the bank:
- Truist Lighthouse Campaign—this is an annual associate-led philanthropic initiative that invests both dollars and sweat equity into Alabama’s communities and its nonprofit sector.
- Truist Business Resource Group—this involves managing community events and directing the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) engagement strategy for our state.
Young left her former life thanks to an inspiring leadership team and an offer she couldn’t refuse. To her, the people are what makes Truist an amazing place to work.
“This role has provided me with an opportunity to see and connect with the true needs within our communities; Truist (formerly BB&T) has continued to support my creativity, passions and professional evolution.”
Mary Beth Young
Building better lives + communities
The Truist Foundation
The Truist Foundation helps give the communities they partner with a chance for a better quality of life. Here’s what they focus on:
- Leadership development
- Economic mobility
- Thriving communities
- Educational equity
According to Young, “We maintain open communication with local leadership to ensure we are engaging those organizations that support our citizens and the sustainability of each area where we work.”
Since 2009, across their footprint, the Foundation has done the following:
- completed more than 12,000 community service projects
- provided more than 700,000 volunteer hours
- helped change the lives of over 18 million people
Financial Foundations gets high schoolers started on the right foot
One thing about Truist that impressed me is that they have reached more than one million high school students through their Financial Foundations program. What a difference a real financial literacy can make throughout the course of a young person’s life.
Want to enroll your K-12 student? Hop over here to get started at no cost.
Truist Cares has committed $50 million to help communities
We’ve been privileged to have a front row seat here at Bham Now to the generosity of so many in our community during these COVID times. One of the things that’s been really heartening to see is how large companies have stepped up to provide support.
Young explained that “The Truist Cares Initiative developed as a national response to COVID -19. Truist designated $50 million in funding to help our youth, seniors and small businesses as well as connectivity and workforce support, including vulnerable hourly workers.”
BB&T + SunTrust = Truist
If you’re like I was, you may not have heard of Truist until now. That’s because they’re a relatively new bank on the block. Back in December 2019, BB&T and SunTrust formed Truist with a shared purpose: to inspire and build better lives and communities.
“With our combined resources, collective passion, and commitment to innovation, we’re creating a better financial experience to help people and businesses achieve more.”
Mary Beth Young
To give you a glimpse at just how significant those shared resources are, Truist is now the sixth largest bank in the US, by assets.
How Truist is addressing racial inequality
Young was enthusiastic about the company’s efforts, and said:
“Truist has cultivated an environment for authentic dialogue to address social and racial injustice. The goal? To implement meaningful and long-lasting changes for the Black community.”
Addressing remote working
2020 will go down in history as the year every white collar worker who wasn’t already working remotely had to pivot hard and fast, as did their employers.
Truist was no different. Young said the company has been very responsive during this temporary virtual working time. They did their homework and set up protocols and practices to make everything as seamless as possible for the people who work there.
Now that more people are back at work in the office, Truist is helping set teammates up for a successful reentry.
Want to learn more about Truist? Follow them on Instagram or visit their website.
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