“Someday they will run our businesses, lead our nation, make discoveries and change our world. But first, they will practice within these walls.”

Those words, written about youth and on display at the Junior Achievement Finance Park in Landover, Md., struck a chord in Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) President/CEO James Schenck. That chord continues to reverberate in the halls of the $20 billion asset credit union in Alexandria, Va.

“That quote, combined with the high-energy students I saw during presentations to MBA students at Georgetown and Hampton universities, inspired me to make sure we’re in a position to attract the best and brightest students,” Schenck says. “We want PenFed and the credit union system to be on the radar for students looking for internships, and on the radar for students looking for their first jobs out of college.”

PenFed’s program, launched this summer, has 24 interns from around the country. True to Schenck’s vision, it aims to bring fresh eyes into the not-for-profit, member-owned financial services landscape.

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