The 2021 Medici program participants, including Mount students, staff, and professors, representatives of Walden Savings Bank, and representatives of The Food Bank of the Hudson Valley.
About a dozen Mount Saint Mary College students recently kicked off the Walden Savings Bank Medici Scholars Program, becoming the sixth group to take on the prestigious initiative since its inception in 2015.
The competitive program, open to a handful of Mount Business students each year, is made possible through an endowed gift to the Mount from Walden Savings Bank. The program is overseen on the Mount’s campus by Anthony Scardillo, Medici faculty advisor and assistant professor of Marketing.
Through the generosity of Walden Savings Bank, the collaborative Medici program prepares students for leadership and principled corporate citizenship. The program introduces undergraduate Business and Accounting students to the world of arts and nonprofits to foster a better understanding of the important role the business community plays in supporting them.
This year, the Mount Medici students will be working with the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, which serves more than 1,000 member agencies in 23 counties from the Canadian border to the border of Westchester County. The Medici students will use their business insight to help the food bank to achieve its philanthropic goals.
At the kickoff event for this year’s program, held at the Mount’s School of Business, Walden Savings Bank President and CEO, Derrik R. Wynkoop addressed the new Medici students.
“Business people are invaluable for not-for-profits,” Wynkoop noted, adding that the Mount students would prove very helpful to the food bank.
Jason N. Adsit, president of the Mount, agreed. “The Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, Walden Savings Bank, and Mount Saint Mary College is an amazing partnership,” he said. “We’re going to do so many cool things."
The program is named after the House of Medici, a banking family from 15th century Italy whose greatest contributions involved sponsoring art and architecture. For that reason, the Medici name is perfect for the program, said Wynkoop.
“This college has core values that are similar to the Medicis, and similar to Walden Savings Bank as a community bank,” he explained.
Wynkoop was honored with the Joseph A. Bonura Award for Leadership Excellence at the Mount’s Tenth Annual Gala Reception in December of 2019. This award recognizes individuals whose professional accomplishments and approach to management reflect the same commitment to quality, concern for neighbors, and shared prosperity that have exemplified the career and character of restaurateur Joseph A. Bonura. The 12th Annual Gala will be held at the college on December 10, 2021.