This summer, Pathway welcomed three interns who brought fresh perspectives, new ideas and a willingness to take on meaningful projects across the organization. From improving internal processes and developing new financial tools to sharing the stories of our clients and communities, Marilyn You, Nico Ricciardiello and Kinsley Hunter each made an impact during their summer with us!

Marilyn You

Marilyn You joined us as the Portfolio Management Intern this summer. She is in her first year of her masters program at Vanderbilt, where she is studying economics. Marilyn is from China and received her bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from the University of Melbourne. She also participated in an exchange program at the National University of Singapore before coming to the U.S. to pursue her master’s degree at Vanderbilt.

During her time with Pathway, Marilyn has worked on various projects supporting the portfolio management team in loan removes and portfolio monitoring. She assists with preparing materials for meetings including delinquency reports, reviewing loan rate changes and gathering collateral info from loan files.

While working on connecting loan documents to SageWorks, she wanted to look into making an automated system to connect the files in Pathway’s internal drive to the SageWorks platform.

“Instead of manually uploading each document for each client, I use the API-based automation to automatically upload them.”

Marilyn said her goal for this project was to create a system that provided efficiency and ease for Pathway. Once the system is finished, time spent syncing files can be spent on other projects.

She was able to build it without any previous experience in computer programming.

“Finding the pain point of the professional’s work and then trying to improve companies efficiency by using more technology is what I am most proud of.”

Marilyn stepped up this summer in many ways. Her supervisor, Dan Wilson said how helpful she has been while at Pathway.

“Marilyn has been valuable to Pathway this summer in several ways. First, she took on an assigned task which demanded perseverance and tenacity as there was a lot of repetition and even drudgery in what she was asked to do. She proceeded and then developed an API to aid in the process making a time-consuming, tedious process efficient and cleaner. Finally, Marilyn has shined by volunteering to be of specific help in Portfolio Management meeting preparation.” 

Marilyn has accomplished many things during her time with Pathway Lending and said she is thankful for the continued support and open arms she has received from the staff.

“The people at Pathway have been so friendly to me. I was nervous to go into my first PM meeting, but everyone said hi to me and asked me how my work was going and invited me to join their conversations. It made me less nervous because I felt warmly welcomed and supported by everyone, especially by my supervisor.”

 

Nico Ricciardiello

Nico Ricciardiello joined us as a contract intern with Brandon England to create a calculator to help with sustainability lending. Nico is from Syracuse, N.Y. and is going into his senior year at the University of Buffalo studying finance and data analytics.

Nico has been working on a financial impact tool to allow someone looking for a loan to input information regarding their project costs. The clients and CFOs will then be able to see how the project could do and the benefits for all parties involved.

“It shows them exactly how the payment will go for the loan in a chart and has a cash balloon tab as well to provide visuals for the clients.”

Nico said this project felt like it was telling a story of a company from where they are at to where they could go in the future.

“It’s almost telling a story to the CFO. These sales reps and contractors can show the CFOs what the project may do, how they benefit the, and how specifically the loan that Pathway would give them is also beneficial for them.”

Nico has learned more about the industry and aspects like CPACER and contractor financing and how companies can help those types of businesses with loans during his time with Pathway.

“I just learned so much doing this project. Even something as simple as applying interest rates and actually seeing it in action. Obviously, I knew how to do it, but you learn a lot more when you actually see this kinds of stuff in action.”

This is a project that Brandon wanted to do for a while and was able to accomplish with Nico’s help.

“For years, I have wanted to build a financial model for energy vendors which will show the financial impact of projects and incorporate Pathway’s financing. Nico listened to the intentions for that model, understood the purpose, and applied what he has learned in classes to build a model in weeks which would have taken me much longer to do. This tool will be used by many to encourage business owners to invest in energy projects. I greatly appreciate Nico’s work this summer. He was determined to help with respect for all.”

Kinsley Hunter

Kinsley Hunter was our Marketing Intern this summer. She is from Huntsville, Alabama and is going into her senior year at Mississippi State University where she is studying public relations and broadcast journalism.

Kinsley has worked on several projects including helping prepare materials for the TBA Annual Conference, reorganizing the marketing closet, helping make new marketing materials, creating posts and videos for social media and capturing content at events.

“I have a different day every time I come to work. Some days I am capturing and creating content and others I am preparing marketing materials for events. Really, I am getting to use both the PR and the broadcast parts of my degree and see how they work together in the industry outside of a sports.”

Kinsley has worked on assisting in content creation and distribution for the 2025 annual report. She edited client videos, made graphics highlighting the different lending areas and client spotlight graphics with quotes on how Pathway has helped their business.

Kinsley’s background in content creation was helpful for events that were covered during the summer including the Morehead Scholars visit to Pathway, and the Belle Mont grand opening event in the Memphis.

“Taking photos and videos at the events I attended this summer were really cool experiences. I have always enjoyed capturing moments through photography and videography, so getting to publish my work that told those stories further proved to me how much I love my job.”

One project she worked on was designing print and new marketing materials for Pathway and Stoneway Communities.

“Getting the opportunity to design new swag items was a lot of fun. I didn’t realize how much went into a marketing job outside of digital projects. It helped me learn more about the full aspect of what a job in PR and Marketing would look like after graduation.”

During her time at Pathway, Hunter worked on projects covering many aspects of marketing to support her supervisor, Maddy Cretin.

“Kinsley has been an invaluable asset to our team this summer. Her versatility is evident in her graphic design, video production and editing, copywriting, and creative problem solving. She has taken on a wide variety of projects and consistently risen to every challenge with professionalism and enthusiasm! Her willingness to help and learn has made her a joy to work with. She takes great pride in producing high-quality work and approaches every project with creativity, attention to detail, and a positive attitude. Kinsley has enabled our marketing team to accomplish so much this summer. Her contributions have helped us continue sharing the stories of our clients and team members whose work is making a meaningful impact throughout our community.”

As Kinsley finishes up her time at Pathway, she reflected on her internship and the people she had the privilege of working with.

“I have loved working at Pathway this summer. Walking in here, you can tell there is a level of support and open arms that you can’t find anywhere else. I don’t think I have worked with a group of people who are as kind and encouraging as the staff at Pathway.”