2026

Truist Corporate Engagement Report

Creating Pathways of Opportunity for All at UNC Charlotte

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A Multi-Year Partnership for Progress

In 2022, Truist Financial Corporation and UNC Charlotte launched a groundbreaking $5.3 million multi-year partnership to create pathways of opportunity for students across academics, career development, research, leadership, and athletics. Through the Truist Institute for Student Success, this investment set in motion a self-reinforcing cycle of student success, talent cultivation, and regional impact.

As Truist Financial Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Rogers shared, Truist’s partnership with UNC Charlotte on education, research, and career development opportunities is a clear manifestation of the company’s purpose: to inspire and build better lives and communities.

For UNC Charlotte, the partnership advances the University’s mission to shape the future through diversity, academic excellence, research innovation, and experiential learning. Together, Truist and UNC Charlotte are not only expanding student support; they are building a stronger, more diverse talent pipeline for the Charlotte region.

This annual impact report provides a comprehensive overview of the outcomes achieved through this significant investment, highlighting Truist’s purposeful impact across student access, leadership development, career readiness, research, athletics, and community engagement. The success of these programs, students, and campus-wide initiatives reflects the power of a shared vision brought to life through sustained investment.

UNC Charlotte is grateful for its partnership with Truist and for the continued commitment to helping students move from opportunity to achievement.

A smiling student seated in a lecture hall gives a shaka hand gesture while working on a laptop. Other students fill the classroom in the background, creating an engaged, welcoming campus learning environment.

The Challenge: Breaking Barriers to Opportunity

For many historically excluded, first-generation, and financially at-risk students, the path to a college degree is shaped by more than academic rigor. Rising higher education costs, student loan debt, limited access to professional networks, and the challenge of navigating university life can create barriers to persistence, belonging, and career mobility.

At the same time, the Charlotte region needs a diverse, globally competitive talent pipeline prepared to meet the demands of a changing economy. Employers increasingly seek graduates with not only academic knowledge, but also leadership skills, technical fluency, career confidence, and real-world experience.

For student-athletes, the challenge extends beyond the field of play. Financial literacy, mental health support, career mentorship, and preparation for life after sports are essential to holistic success.

The Truist Institute for Student Success was created to meet these needs through a coordinated model of support — one that removes barriers, connects students to opportunity, and strengthens the bridge between UNC Charlotte and the region’s workforce.

The Action: A Self-Reinforcing Partnership for Progress

The Truist & UNC Charlotte partnership operates as a flywheel, where each investment builds momentum for the next stage of student success. What begins as philanthropic support becomes access. Access enables confidence and achievement. Achievement fuels career readiness, research, and workforce integration. Those outcomes, in turn, strengthen the region and validate continued investment.

Through the original partnership framework, Truist and UNC Charlotte aligned academic programming, research, athletics, and career development into a holistic ecosystem of opportunity.

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Removing Financial Barriers

The partnership established the Truist Scholars Program, designed to provide four-year renewable scholarships for historically excluded students, and the Truist Student Accelerator Program, created to support financially at-risk students through tuition assistance, fees, book stipends, and paid internship pathways with Truist.

Building Bridges to Success

Through leadership and transition programming, the partnership supports students as they acclimate to university life, build confidence, and develop skills for leadership and advocacy. While the original framework envisioned this work through the FIT Program, current implementation through SAFE and Emerging Leaders continues the same goal: helping students build belonging, leadership capacity, and career readiness.

Four professionally dressed individuals pose at the entrance of the Career & Collaboration Hub, sponsored by Truist. A Truist banner stands beside the group, with meeting rooms and employer partner signage visible inside the career center.

Creating Collaborative Infrastructure

The Career & Collaboration Hub Together with Truist and the Truist Innovation Space at PORTAL provide physical and programmatic spaces where students, faculty, staff, and Truist teammates can connect. These spaces help bridge the gap between classroom learning and industry engagement through career coaching, employer events, collaborative projects, research, and professional development.

Advancing Research and Discovery

Through the Truist Business Innovation and Research Program, Truist Research Symposium, Analytics Frontiers Conference, and Women in Data Science Conference, the partnership creates opportunities for students, faculty, and industry leaders to explore real-world business, technology, data, and innovation challenges.

A group of faculty, staff, and partners pose together in front of a University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Truist-branded backdrop during a campus event. The group stands smiling for a photo in a bright meeting space.
A large group of athletes pose together on a campus soccer field after a training session. Everyone smiles for a group photo with the Charlotte athletic facilities and tree-lined campus visible in the background.

Empowering Student-Athletes

Through SELP, formerly United in GOLD, the partnership supports student-athletes through mental health resources, financial literacy, career readiness, mentoring, leadership development, and belonging-centered programming. This work helps student-athletes thrive during their collegiate experience and prepare for life after sports.

The Impact: Local Transformation

A student and a professional shake hands while smiling during a networking event. Other attendees converse in the background, highlighting a career-focused gathering that encourages professional connections and mentorship.

Five years into this journey, the partnership is creating visible momentum across UNC Charlotte. Students are receiving scholarship support, building professional skills, earning leadership credentials, engaging with employers, participating in research and innovation experiences, and preparing to enter the workforce with greater confidence.

The impact is evident in the students whose financial burdens have been reduced, the thousands who have accessed career support, the emerging leaders gaining credentials before graduation, and the student-athletes receiving holistic resources to support wellness, leadership, and career preparation.

Behind every metric is a student story: a first resume review, a first internship, a first professional connection, a first leadership certificate, or a first moment of realizing that a meaningful career is within reach.

The “why” behind this investment is clear. Truist and UNC Charlotte share a commitment to building better lives and stronger communities by expanding opportunity at every stage of the student journey. By addressing students’ holistic needs — from financial access and mental wellness to career readiness and high-demand skills — this partnership is helping diverse leaders graduate prepared to contribute, innovate, and lead.

The “why” behind this investment is clear. Truist and UNC Charlotte share a commitment to building better lives and stronger communities by expanding opportunity at every stage of the student journey. By addressing students’ holistic needs — from financial access and mental wellness to career readiness and high-demand skills — this partnership is helping diverse leaders graduate prepared to contribute, innovate, and lead.

The Truist Institute for Student Success demonstrates what is possible when a university and a corporate partner align around a shared vision. Together, Truist and UNC Charlotte are not only solving immediate barriers to student success; they are shaping what’s next for students, families, employers, and the Charlotte region.

We are grateful to Truist for their investment in our University and recognition of the transformative power of a Charlotte education. Together, we are offering life-changing experiences and furnishing students with the tools and knowledge necessary to build successful, meaningful lives and careers."

Chancellor Sharon L. Gaber

Truist’s partnership with UNC Charlotte on education, research and career development opportunities for the University’s students is a clear manifestation of our purpose to inspire and build better lives and communities. We’re honored to work with Chancellor Gaber and the entire UNC Charlotte community to foster a pipeline of globally competitive leaders, and in doing so, enrich the community in Charlotte and enhance workforce development in North Carolina and beyond."

Bill Rogers, chairman and chief executive officer of Truist Financial Corporation

Summary of Investment

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Impact at a Glance

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Three Key Pillars of Investments

Pillar 1

Scholarships, Experiential Learning and Leadership Development

  • Truist Scholars Program
  • Truist Student Accelerator Program
  • Career Collaboration Hub
  • Truist Leadership Development Experience

Pillar 2

Research and Discovery

  • Truist Business Innovation and Research Program
  • Truist Research Symposium
  • Analytics Frontiers Conference
  • Women in Data Science Conference

Pillar 3

Charlotte Athletics and Student-Athlete Support

  • United in GOLD / SELP

Scholarships, Experiential Learning and Leadership Development

Truist Scholars Program

Four-year renewable scholarships: $442,500 total awarded to 92 recipients.

Meet Four Truist Scholars

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Ryan Jacobs

Hometown: Bayonne, New Jersey

Interests: Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina

Career Aspirations: Data Consultant

My academic journey fuels my dream of becoming a traveling Data Consultant. I thrive on solving complex problems and leveraging data-driven insights to make informed decisions. From coding to crunching numbers, I'm always eager to explore innovative solutions and stay ahead in this evolving field."

Ryan Jacobs exemplifies the drive and technical excellence fostered by the Truist Scholars Program. Majoring in Computer Science in the College of Computing and Informatics, Ryan has strategically channeled his passion for analytical problem-solving into immediate professional momentum. He has already secured an internship with Data in Motion, balancing his academic rigor with real-world application.

Kyle Norman

Hometown: Apex, NC

Interests: Alpha Tau Omega, Stock Market Analysis & Wealth Management

Career Aspirations: Personal Financial Advisor or Stockbroker

As a Truist Scholars Program recipient, it was especially meaningful to engage with leaders who exemplify the innovation and client-centered mindset the program represents. Learning how design thinking shapes decision-making across teams reinforced the value of empathy, collaboration, and thoughtful problem-solving within financial services."

Kyle Norman represents the spirit of leadership and academic dedication championed by the Truist Scholars Program. Kyle is a focused student in the Belk College of Business pursuing a major in Business Finance to master wealth management and long-term investment strategies. His pursuit of excellence extends beyond the classroom into campus life, where his involvement with the Alpha Tau Omega chapter helps him cultivate leadership qualities and professional connections. The Truist Scholarship provides Kyle with the critical financial stability needed to alleviate financial strain, allowing him to focus on his studies and excel academically. Looking to the future, he aims to secure a competitive internship within a financial institution to bridge his academic knowledge with hands-on industry experience.

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Charlotte Nunley

Hometown: Ashburn, Virginia

Interests: Ambassador for Women in Business, pilates instructor at University Recreation

Career Aspirations: Global Finance

Experiences like this, made possible by Truist, have truly shaped my college journey."

Charlotte Nunley stands out as an exemplary representative of the Truist Scholars Program. As a recipient within this competitive initiative, Charlotte has uniquely leveraged university resources to catalyze her professional path. Pursuing a Business Administration major in the Belk College of Business, her narrative highlights a seamless bridge from campus involvement to high-level corporate placement. Her journey perfectly models the scholarship’s core purpose: empowering talent and cultivating strong pipeline opportunities with key industry leaders.

Monica Phann

Hometown: Charlotte, NC

Interests: Chinese Student Association, Vietnamese Student Association & HackCLT

Career Aspirations: Software Engineer

Monica Phann represents the spirit of innovation and community leadership championed by the Truist Scholars Program. A first-generation college student born and raised in Charlotte, Monica graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.S. in Computer Science and a minor in Mathematics. Her academic excellence is matched by a strong track record of hands-on success, having competed in multiple hackathons and winning two. By removing financial barriers, the Truist Scholarship empowered Monica to deepen her research into AI/ML models through advanced undergraduate research coursework, while fostering campus inclusivity through her leadership in cultural organizations like the Chinese Student Association (CSA) and the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA).

Truist Immersive Learning Event

Held over two days at the Truist Innovation and Technology Center in Uptown Charlotte, this immersive experience served as a premier collaborative forum. The event brought together the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, local university students, tech partners, and Truist’s corporate engagement branches to tackle real-world financial and technology business problems.

Speaker presents to an audience in front of a Truist-branded backdrop, gesturing while delivering remarks during a professional development or networking event.

Student Impact: Truist Scholar Charlotte Hunley experienced a defining milestone in her professional development during the event. Rather than acting as a passive participant, her hands-on engagement during this intensive experiential learning showcase provided the foundational touchpoint that prepared her for a competitive, workforce-ready role within Truist.

Strategic Alignment: The event successfully bridged academia and industry by challenging top scholars to accelerate the creation of building high-impact technology solutions. By fostering direct professional exposure and experiential learning, the initiative expanded its talent pipeline of workforce-ready tech and finance talent for the Charlotte region.

Participant writes ideas on a whiteboard during a collaborative workshop while a group of students and professionals gather around to discuss and review the brainstorming session.

Truist Student Accelerator Program

Two-year renewable scholarships: $201,134 awarded to 24 recipients

Career & Collaboration Hub Together with Truist

Launched in August 2023, the Career & Collaboration Hub Together with Truist brings UNC Charlotte’s University Career Center and Truist together in a dedicated space designed to connect student ambition with real-world opportunity. The Hub serves as both a physical gathering place and a programmatic engine for career readiness, corporate engagement, and experiential learning.

Through the Hub, students gain access to resume support, interview preparation, networking events, employer workshops, and industry-connected experiences that help bridge the transition from college to career. By creating a central point where success, engagement, and purpose align, the Hub strengthens UNC Charlotte’s ability to prepare students for professional pathways while giving Truist and other regional employers meaningful opportunities to engage emerging talent.

Students and recruiters network at a university career fair inside a large campus atrium, with a Truist information table and a digital display promoting a computing and informatics alumni panel.

Impact at a Glance

6,000+ students supported through drop-in career services

With support from Truist representatives and career professionals, students received timely resume reviews, career advice, and one-on-one guidance to help them take their next step with greater confidence.

5,000+ students connected through 200+ Career Meet-Ups

Through targeted, small-group sessions, students engaged directly with career coaches and industry professionals in practical conversations about career paths, workplace expectations, and professional growth.

100+ short-term Gig Internship projects piloted, attracting 1,000+ student applicants

The Gig Internship Program opened new doors for students to gain hands-on experience through flexible, skill-based projects. Building on strong student demand, the program is expanding partnerships with alumni, companies, and campus departments to help more students explore diverse professional roles.

1,500+ students engaged in Coursera Career Academy

Supported by Truist, Coursera Career Academy helps students bridge the gap between college and career through access to 50+ industry-recognized micro-credentials. Students can build job-ready skills, strengthen resumes and LinkedIn profiles, and explore high-demand career pathways through structured online learning.

60+ students participated in course-based internships through the Group Internship Program

Truist helped launch a new model for experiential learning that embeds internships into the classroom experience. Following early success, the program is expected to expand to 300+ students over the next two years, creating more opportunities for students to apply their learning in real-world settings.

Expanded employer engagement across career fairs, innovation days, networking events, and more

Truist continues to show up as an active partner in student success, creating multiple pathways for students to connect with professionals, explore career possibilities, and build relationships that support their transition from campus to career.

Three professionally dressed students pose together at a career fair in a university arena, standing beneath championship banners and holding resumes and networking materials.

SAFE/Truist Leadership Development Experience

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Program Overview: Students Achieving First-Year Excellence (SAFE) is a peer mentoring, academic readiness, and transition program designed to help first-year students at Charlotte successfully matriculate by minimizing academic, social, and emotional challenges through peer support and campus resources.

While the original framework envisioned leadership development through the Forty-Niner Intensive Transition Program (FIT), the partnership’s leadership-development investment is now reflected through SAFE and Emerging Leaders programming, continuing the original goal of supporting students through transition, belonging, leadership growth, and career confidence.

Holistic Support: The program pairs academic support with personal development programming to foster academic achievement, positive self-concept, and personal growth, helping students achieve excellence in their degree of choice.

Truist-Funded Impact: Truist funding covered the fees for 17 SAFE mentees accepted into the Emerging Leaders (EL) Program, a weekly spring-semester cohort program founded in 1980 within the Office of Leadership & Community Engagement.

Leadership Development: Through the EL Program, participants developed essential skills in leadership styles, conflict management, and creative problem-solving, ultimately earning their Truist Emerging Leaders Certification (ELC).

Research Spotlight: Emotional Expression in Virtual Collaboration

Audience members seated in a conference session as a man in a purple quarter-zip speaks and gestures with both hands during a group discussion, while attendees around him listen and take notes.

Project Title: Leading and Following with Emotion: An Investigation of Emotional Expression in Virtual Meetings

Led by researchers Dr. Scott Tonidandel, Dr. George Banks, and Dr. Janaki Gooty

Dr. Scott Tonidandel

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Dr. George Banks

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Dr. Janaki Gooty

Executive Summary

As work becomes increasingly virtual, effective digital communication remains essential to strong leadership. This pilot study explored how interpreting emotional cues in a technology-mediated meeting like Zoom could contribute to perceptions of leader effectiveness.

Because the study was conducted in an experimental setting with undergraduate students, the findings should be viewed as preliminary. Even so, the research offers an important starting point. Emotions were shown to vary and fluctuate throughout meetings, helping establish a baseline understanding of how often certain emotional displays appear in virtual interactions. Some emotional displays were also relatively more important in understanding how participants rated leadership effectiveness.

Together, these findings provide a useful foundation for future research on how communication behaviors influence team dynamics and leadership perceptions in digital spaces.

Strategic Innovation & Broader Impact

One of the most promising aspects of this project is its use of AI to measure displayed emotions in real time. This approach gives researchers another way to study what people outwardly express during virtual meetings and how those expressions may shape team perceptions.

For Truist, this early work points to future opportunities to better understand digital leadership, virtual collaboration, and the communication behaviors that support trust, engagement, and effectiveness in hybrid work environments.

Current Project Status

This project was conducted as a pilot study in an experimental setting with undergraduate student participants. While the findings are preliminary, they provide a strong foundation for continued research into virtual leadership, digital communication, and AI-supported methods for measuring emotional displays.

Corporate Engagement

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Industry Engagement | Events with Truist

Thanks to Truist’s generous investment, UNC Charlotte’s School of Data Science is able to host major recurring industry engagement events. These signature opportunities include the Analytics Frontiers Conference and the Women in Data Science (WiDS) Charlotte Conference. These events offer direct avenues for students and professionals to connect with banking, tech, and retail leaders, including experts from Truist.

Analytics Frontiers Conference, presented by Truist

Five panelists participate in a discussion at the Charlotte Analytics Analytics Frontiers Conference, seated on stage with microphones beside a conference banner sponsored by Truist.

The 2026 Analytics Frontiers Conference, hosted on April 22, 2026, at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown, successfully brought together 300+ thought leaders, scientists, and business executives across academia and key regional industries. Truist contributed 35 attendees and 8 speakers.

Conference Alignment: Under the theme “AI at Scale: Turning Insight into Enterprise Advantage,” the conference directly aligned with the region's corporate and financial ecosystem, focusing on building robust, resilient, and trustworthy Generative AI (GenAI) and agentic systems.

Academic-Corporate Synergy: Truist solidified its role as a core driver of Charlotte’s regional fintech ecosystem and a primary partner in local workforce development by leading a high-profile panel at the UNC Charlotte School of Data Science.

Thought Leadership: Truist team members led an impactful panel discussion titled “Future-Proofing AI: The Architecture Behind an Agentic World,” featuring a distinguished lineup including Karrin Russo (moderator), Vijaya Raghunathan, Lekha Banerjee, Parisia Cylburn-Patton, and Sangeetha Menon.

Record Engagement: Backed by invaluable institutional and team support, the event achieved its highest attendance and engagement levels since the COVID crisis.

 Women in Data Science Conference, sponsored by Truist

Women in Data Science Worldwide Charlotte logo featuring overlapping profile silhouettes and the text “Women in Data Science Worldwide | Charlotte.”

The 2026 Women in Data Science Conference, hosted on March 23, 2026, at the Popp-Martin Student Union, successfully brought together 400+ emerging talent, students, and new professionals to explore the cutting edge of AI and machine learning. Truist contributed 12 attendees and 3 expert speakers

A speaker presents on stage at a data science conference beside a podium and a banner reading “The School of Data Science.”
Five panelists sit on stage during the Charlotte Analytics ADC Data Science Conference, participating in a discussion between banners for Charlotte Analytics and The School of Data Science.

Conference Alignment: Under a focus on the cutting edge of AI and machine learning, the conference addresses the ethical, practical, and innovative dimensions of generative AI, explainable AI, data privacy, and AI’s impact on healthcare, while equipping attendees to build future-proof careers and lead responsibly in an AI-driven world.

Academic-Corporate Synergy: Hosted by UNC Charlotte’s School of Data Science, the event serves as a premier pipeline for regional tech talent. By integrating a mid-day career fair and an evening reception, it provides a high-impact platform for Fortune 500 companies and local enterprises to network with, recruit, and mentor emerging data scientists.

Thought Leadership: The forum features an elite lineup of regional industry and academic experts delivering keynotes, breakout sessions, and a signature fireside chat panel with corporate leaders.

Special Recognition: Special acknowledgment is extended to Winda Khor, Business Operations Consultant for her tireless, foundational support in organizing and executing Truist's highly successful engagement at the conference.

Paving Pathways: Philanthropy in Action

Strategic Engagement and Leadership Programming (SELP)

Formerly United in GOLD

Through Strategic Engagement and Leadership Programming (SELP), Truist supports UNC Charlotte student-athletes beyond competition, helping them build financial confidence, leadership skills, career readiness, mental wellness, and lifelong community connections. SELP directly advances the partnership’s shared mission of Creating Pathways of Opportunity for All by investing in the whole student-athlete.

Through SELP, Truist’s philanthropy becomes a direct investment in the full student-athlete experience. In 2025–2026, Truist supported financial literacy programming, women’s leadership development, community engagement, and expanded mental health resources for Charlotte student-athletes.

The result is a more holistic model of student-athlete success — one that prepares students not only to compete, but to lead, manage life transitions, build financial independence, care for their mental wellness, and pursue meaningful futures after sports.

Program Focus Area

1.

Financial Literacy

Budgeting, credit, saving, investing, and financial confidence.

2.

Women's Empowerment

Leadership panels, self-advocacy, confidence-building, and mentorship.

3.

Alumni Outreach & Career Connection

Mentorship, career networking, alumni reunions, and professional pathways.

4.

Experiential Learning

Exposure to culture, community, leadership, and personal growth experiences.

5.

Mental Health & Wellness

Sport psychology, resilience, performance support, and emotional well-being.

Beyond the Game: SELP Impact at a Glance

SELP Pillar

Reach

Impact

Financial Literacy

186+ student-athletes

Helped student-athletes build practical money-management skills for budgeting, credit, saving, investing, NIL/RevShare opportunities, and life after sports.

Financial Literacy

81 student-athletes

The initial workshop introduced lifestyle budgeting, financial stability, and long-term planning.

Financial Literacy

105 student-athletes

Team-based sessions expanded customized financial education across women’s basketball, men’s basketball, volleyball, and football.

Women's Empowerment

80+ female student-athletes

The Women’s Executive Speaker Series connected student-athletes with women leaders, mentorship, self-advocacy, and confidence-building career guidance.

Women's Empowerment

85 female student-athletes

Self-defense and empowerment programming supported confidence, personal safety, and leadership presence.

Experiential Learning

200+ community participants

National Girls & Women in Sports Day extended SELP’s impact beyond campus through sports, STEM, family engagement, and financial wellness.

Experiential Learning

100+ kids and parents

Connected young people and families to sports, STEM exposure, and financial confidence-building resources.

Mental Health & Wellness

1 fully funded sport

psychology fellowship

Expanded access to specialized mental health, resilience, performance anxiety, and emotional well-being support for student-athletes.

Looking Ahead

As we move into the final stages of the current funding cycle, our primary focus is ensuring the continued academic excellence, professional readiness, and seamless graduation of our current student cohorts. Looking ahead to the upcoming academic year, we anticipate celebrating major milestones across both flagship initiatives.

Truist Scholars Program: 22 students are projected to graduate in Spring 2027.

Truist Accelerator Program: 7 students are projected to graduate during the 2026–2027 academic year (4 in Fall 2026 and 3 in Spring 2027).

The ultimate measure of these programs' impact is the success of our students as they transition from the classroom to the workforce.

Through continued stewardship and robust academic monitoring, UNC Charlotte remains committed to maximizing the legacy of Truist's investment — empowering our students to graduate on time and step confidently into their professional careers.

Large group of students and young professionals pose together inside a Truist office atrium, standing on a green turf area beneath a Truist sign and giving thumbs-up gestures.

Official Retail Bank of 49er Athletics

UNC Charlotte’s mascot, Norm the Niner, stands outside a Truist bank branch on a city sidewalk, posing in a green jersey beneath Truist signage.