Five Questions With: Bob Ricci

Bob Ricci is vice president, regional manager with BankRI and a member of the board of directors of Read to Succeed. / COURTESY CONSTANCE BROWN
Bob Ricci is vice president, regional manager with BankRI and a member of the board of directors of Read to Succeed. / COURTESY CONSTANCE BROWN

Bob Ricci, vice president, regional manager with BankRI, joined the bank in 2010 and has more than 15 years of experience in the industry. A lifelong Rhode Islander, Ricci became a member of the board of directors of Read to Succeed in 2016. He also sits on the board of the Rhode Island Ovarian Cancer Alliance and previously served on the board of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Warwick.

PBN: You recently joined the board of directors of Read to Succeed. What attracted you to this opportunity?
RICCI:
I’ve always had a passion for getting involved with and supporting organizations that help children, particularly those working with at-risk youth. I’m a firm believer in the power of education and how that impacts a child’s future. I’m also not sure everyone realizes the literacy skills students lose over the summer when they’re not engaged in reading; nearly all students lose up to two months of reading comprehension. This means teachers must revisit old curriculum in September before they can move on to new material.

PBN: The work of Read to Succeed is quite unique, how do you feel their approach helps to create the biggest impacts for local youth?
RICCI:
I think the most important aspect of the organization’s approach is that its model puts the onus directly on the children, and their families, to make a commitment to reading while school is out. This isn’t something for nothing –students need to earn the incentive that’s presented to them. For those who participate in the program and read six books, they’re able to earn a $1,000 scholarship deposit in their name into the Rhode Island CollegeBoundfund. Students are eligible for up to five consecutive summers. If a student takes full advantage of this opportunity they’ll have $5,000 toward their college education upon graduating high school. Since 2008, Read to Succeed has provided more than $153,000 in scholarships to youth across Providence. But best of all, the program is offered for free to students, parents and schools.

PBN: What do you hope to contribute to Read to Succeed through your role on the Board?
RICCI:
Rhode Island is a unique place, especially due to its size, where there are few degrees of separation between nearly everyone. I’m eager to use my personal and professional relationships to introduce a new spectrum of people to an organization that’s helping inner-city youth achieve success in the classroom and beyond. I also believe I can contribute some new and innovative ideas to help grow the program in order to reach even more students and their families. But, at the end of the day, I’m excited to be part of an effort that not only helps youth realize the opportunity to attend college, but puts them on a path to make it a reality.

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PBN: Along with Read to Succeed, what other nonprofit organizations are you involved in?
RICCI:
I also serve on the board of directors of the Rhode Island Ovarian Cancer Alliance, which holds special meaning to my family. My niece, Jessica, fought a courageous battle with ovarian cancer and sadly passed away in 2007 at just 20 years old. After her passing, my wife and family wanted to honor her life and continue her passion for raising awareness and education about the disease, particularly since no prescreening test currently exists for early detection.

PBN: How does BankRI support staff that wish to give back to the causes they care about and choose to be actively involved with?
RICCI:
Being a local community bank, BankRI is dedicated to giving back to the community, and that includes being supportive of the individual causes employees are involved with. They want to know about the organizations we care most about, encouraging us to volunteer and providing opportunities to share our community involvements with fellow co-workers. I’m regularly joined by my colleagues at RIOCA fundraising events and you can almost always find BankRI employees coming together as a team to support groups like Junior Achievement of Rhode Island, Inspiring Minds, Back to School Celebration of Rhode Island and College Visions. On the company level, BankRI has a number of signature efforts that it relys on staff input for when coordinating, such as our annual food and book drives and the Holiday Giving Tree.

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