Greenleaf Trust Celebrates Graduating Scholars in Virtual Ceremony

Event recognizes the accomplishments of six recipients of the Greenleaf Trust Scholarship, which is focused on increasing diversity in the areas of finance and personal financial planning

December 1, 2020, Kalamazoo, MI – Greenleaf Trust, an independent Michigan-chartered, trust-only bank and wealth management firm with more than $14 billion in client assets under advisement, celebrated the achievements of six recipients of the Greenleaf Trust Scholarship. Each of these students attended Western Michigan University’s Haworth College of Business and were recognized during a virtual graduation celebration on Tuesday.

“We are so proud of this year’s graduating Greenleaf Trust Scholars. While we would have loved to celebrate their hard work and tremendous accomplishments in person, we will not let our inability to do so stand in the way of giving them the recognition they deserve,” said Greenleaf Trust founder and chairman William D. Johnston. “These students have faced 2020 with such resiliency, and we congratulate them on their successful college careers and brilliant futures.”

Johnston founded the Greenleaf Trust Scholarship just one year after his firm opened its doors, with the long-term goal of changing the face of finance. He realized that the lack of representation of students of color pursuing and graduating college with a degree in finance was a detriment to his efforts to build a diverse workforce and was hurting the wealth management industry as a whole.  In 1999, he founded the Greenleaf Trust Scholarship with a dedicated focus on increasing diversity in these areas of higher education study as well as in the professional field of finance.  In the 21 years since, 71 students have received scholarships totaling more than $1.6 million of paid tuition.

The Greenleaf Trust Scholarship awards 13 scholarships annually to business students studying finance or personal financial planning at Western Michigan University’s Haworth College of Business. Students receiving the scholarship must maintain a GPA of at least 2.5 and in doing so receive $12,400 annually for tuition until they graduate, or for up to four years.

Greenleaf Trust also provides opportunities for up to three students to complete an internship at the company. Scholars who are offered the internship have the opportunity to rotate through four divisions of the company: personal trust/wealth management, operations, research and retirement planning. During their internship, they are also provided a mentor who they meet with regularly to receive feedback and coaching.

For additional information on the Greenleaf Trust Scholarship program, please visit https://greenleaftrust.com/careers/scholarships/.