Mosaic Sponsor Feature: Fifth Third Bank
There’d be no Mosaic Film Experience (Mosaic) without the generosity of our West Michigan community and allies.One community member who’s teamed up with Mosaic in a more hands-on-way this year is Patrick Lonergan, the Senior Vice President of Fifth Third Bank and a new member of Mosaic’s steering committee.“I’ve been overwhelmed by the talent of this group of volunteers,” he said. “When you see that kind of heart and soul put into something, it really cements my feelings that this is more than just a project. It’s a piece of these participants’ hearts.”
Patrick grew interested in Mosaic after chatting with Fifth Third Bank team members who’d volunteered at the annual Mosaic Event multiple times.The Mosaic Event is an annual interactive experience connecting students with creative digital media professionals and storytellers, career-inspiring workshops, and a celebration of Mosaic Mobile student-made short films.Intrigued by how the event balanced filmmaking technology with teaching problem-solving skills through storytelling, Patrick got Fifth Third Bank involved, and it’s been a sponsor of the Mosaic Film Experience since 2018. He calls on more sponsors step up to invest in this mission.
“Mosaic has the ability to draw the region together. I want to see us continue to build up this group of people in West Michigan. Filmmakers of the future live here,” he said. “The stories here are excellent, we’ve got great people, and I just think Mosaic is a unique way to engage young people in that combination of technology and storytelling.”Another aspect of Mosaic Patrick was inspired by was the focus on professional diversity. He believes this is an opportunity for financial institutions to use non-traditional methods to support education for lower-income students and people of color.
“When young people are energized to think about their futures, whatever those futures will be, financial institutions will have a role in them,” Patrick said. “Mosaic fundamentally connects people with resources and opportunity that they probably wouldn’t have without Mosaic.”Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Mosaic Event is going virtual. We will broadcast globally from 9 - 11:30 a.m., November 4, from Celebration Cinema North in Grand Rapids, Michigan.