Tangerine Bank will always have a special place in my heart. When I got my first job after university my parents encouraged me to open a high-interest savings account (back when the bank was known as ING) to teach me to take ownership of my finances. This not only empowered me, but also made it possible for me to purchase two vehicles and my very first property at a young age. The financial institution has made a name for themselves since 1997 for their accessible and flexible products and services with low-to-fair fees to satisfy your everyday banking needs. This year Tangerine’s CEO Peter Aceto has made a commitment to empower through the “Bright Way Forward” initiative where they have chosen to partner with a select group of charitable organizations such as; YMCA Canada, FoodShare, Youth Without Shelter, ACCES Employment, United Way, Canada Basketball in addition to the Steve Nash Youth Basketball Program.

With basketball being the fastest growing and most popular sport amongst visible minorities here in Canada, joining forces with 2-time NBA MVP Steve Nash presents a unique way for Tangerine to provide young people with a new skill set, teamwork & leadership skills, while gaining a sense of belonging…all imperative elements to creating a bright way forward today and tomorrow.

To kick off this exciting initiative, Tangerine hosted a launch event last week at the YMCA for media and kids from Nash’s foundation got a surprise by the Canadian basketball star, who spent time teaching them the fundamentals of the game and running on court drills. You can check out the children’s reactions in my Instagram video here. To end off the inspiring day, I joined Steve as he took over Tangerine’s twitter account for an hour where we discussed personal empowerment through sports and fans got to ask him questions for a chance to win a signed basketball jersey. Throughout the course of the hour-long twitter chat, I was able to share my personal stories of empowerment, how sport helped shape who I am today and was able to take away some amazing advice from Canada’s most celebrated basketball player – who reminded us that there’s, “No way around hard work. Set goals, have a plan and constantly reanalyze them!”.

Photos via Nathalia Allen www.amillionminds.ca, Newswire and @SashaExeter Instagram

More information on this initiative can be found at BrightWayForward.ca. Learn more about Tangerine’s products and services on Tangerine.ca and by following them on twitter at @TangerineBank.