Dalante Rhoden joined Urban Alliance with a desire to gain more work experience, but ultimately had a firm plan to follow in his father’s footsteps as a truck driver after high school. He didn’t believe that he belonged in the professional world. When he started his internship with Bank of America, Dalante was initially intimidated by working in a professional environment, but worked hard, asked questions, and soon began to understand how he could make his mark in the workplace. As his confidence in the workplace grew, so did his pride in both his work and professional appearance. His mentors said he quickly became the best-dressed person in the building.
Dalante soon discovered that he had a real talent for engaging with the bank’s clients, and was even singled out for praise by Bank of America’s Region Executive for his ability to handle tricky situations and provide clients with in-depth information about their financial services options. As he started to excel, Dalante learned more about different departments within the bank, and found his calling in human resources. He was surprised to discover that not only does he feel confident and valuable as a member of the bank’s team, he’s found a new direction for his future. “That’s where my passion is,” Dalante said of his work on the human resources team at the bank. “I’d be happy doing it and waking up every day. Being HR in corporate, I look at it as my future career and really want it.”
Dalante’s mentors believe that the sky is the limit for this talented young man and threw their support behind him with an extended six-month internship and assistance studying for an exam needed for full-time employment. “I never knew that this would be something that I would be doing,” Dalante said. “I never knew that I was capable of doing things like this.”
The opportunity to intern at Bank of America changed Dalante’s entire outlook on life. “If you don’t have opportunities, you don’t [have] hope,” Dalante said. “When you take a person that [doesn’t have] hope, they don’t know. When you take that and you give them life and give them hope, that’s a blessing.”