We've officially completed our nine weeks at ICBA this summer! From learning and laughing together, whether in the office or on team calls, it is safe to say that this summer was full of valuable moments for us all.
2025 ICBA Summer Internship Final Presentation Day
For the first time, the interns were placed across three of ICBA's offices. Despite the distance, we were all still able to keep in touch and build relationships, especially when it came time to work on our intern video and presentation (stick around till the end of the diary). I can say that I have truly enjoyed getting to know all the interns and had a great time working with them. We all came from unique academic backgrounds that allowed us to form a cohesive and productive group.
Before we officially say goodbye, lets take a look back on the events that took place during our last few weeks at ICBA…
Take ICBA out to the Ball Game!
Recently, the Sauk Centre office and the D.C. Marcom team celebrated the end of the intern's summer with baseball games! While unfortunately, the Nationals and Twins did not emerge victorious, we still had lots of cheers and fun!
Chip Lynch's Retirement
Last week, the Sauk Centre office celebrated Chip Lynch's retirement. Chip has dedicated nearly 20 years to ICBA as the Senior Vice President, Relationship Manager for the Southwest region. The team celebrated on the shores of Lake Minnewaska - the birthplace of ICBA 95 years ago. Thank you for your dedication to the community banking mission!
Final Leader Lunches with Rebeca and Alex
For our final two lunches, we were joined by Rebeca Romero Rainey, CEO and President of ICBA, and Alex Galeano, SEVP, Chief Finance & Administrative Officer!
Both spoke with such an apparent enthusiasm for the work that they are in and the communities they help foster. Rebeca herself came from a community banking background as a third-generation community banker, getting involved in community banking advocacy at the state level before moving to ICBA. Alex's path to ICBA looked slightly different, while starting in the private sector, he then transitioned to working for associations of all different sizes. They both took the time to share lots of career wisdom, including to embrace every opportunity, ask questions often, and to keep in touch with your professional networks. It was a great opportunity to engage directly and learn from their expertise.
The Leader Lunches have been one of the highlights of my time here at ICBA, it is always so inspiring to hear from everyone and learn about what makes ICBA the incredible organization it is. Understanding how those in executive leadership view their role at ICBA and the work it took them to get there has been so helpful as we begin our careers.
As we are busy wrapping up all of our work from the past 2 months and creating our intern presentation, I wanted to ask each intern to reflect on their time at ICBA. What I've personally enjoyed so much about writing the intern diaries is that I am given the opportunity to reflect back on my work and our learning every week. To give the other interns the same chance, I asked:
What was your biggest takeaway from your time at ICBA?
Vansh: The biggest thing I’ve learned from my time at ICBA is how much communication matters. Just talking to different teams, asking questions, and building relationships made me realize that being open and willing to connect with people makes the work easier and way more meaningful.
Lydia: My biggest takeaway from my time at ICBA has to be real experience. As silly as it sounds, this was actually my first ever internship where I was actually working and learning where my focus was aimed at my career goals. I'm super grateful to be able to learn in the real environment, being hands on, and gaining a deeper understanding of how associations operate.
Mia: My biggest takeaway is that you should always try everything! Before my time at ICBA, I admittedly knew very little about financial services policy and how associations operate. I was able to make connections to topics I already knew and loved as well as learn so many new things about these industries. Exploring the intersection of policymaking and communications has been a critical point in my time here.
Maia: My biggest takeaway was lots of banking terms like de novo bank, BDP, and PDP as well as a bigger passion for community banking. I need to thank Peter Nelson for this as well because I loved listening to him talk about how community banking has contributed to United States's economy. It was so special to be in the place where ICBA was founded 95 years ago, knowing that community banking would not have been sustainable if ICBA was not here to advocate for them.
Lex: My biggest takeaway from ICBA is to learn from the older members. Each have their own stories to share and as an intern I have learned a lot from leader lunches, to casual conversations in the hallway and structured meetings. Some particular highlights I would like to mention was our leader lunch with Rebeca Romero Rainey where she discussed the true meaning of leadership and the challenges she faced as a female leader. I also appreciated Alex Galeano’s insight on discussing the differences between working for a for profit vs non-profit company and how staying true to yourself and passionate is key. Casual conversations with Brandon Pleasants about crypto and technology were very informative and lastly to Susan Corsini who reminded us the importance of networking and making a positive impact in the workplace. I’m so incredibly thankful to everyone at ICBA as I’ve learned so much about everyone and myself.
Thank you to all of the staff at ICBA that has helped us navigate our time here. Everyone has been so welcoming and patient as we learned the ins and out of our departments and the organization as a whole. It has been a pleasure to write the intern diaries and I hope you enjoyed!