Transforming financial skills into a career

Summary: When trust meets opportunity, real change happens. Through its Latinos in Finance Program and annual peer exchange, UnidosUS has supported thousands of workers, including Latinos, by empowering them with financial education, industry specific training, career services and culturally competent support. The program builds community-centered employment pathways that show how equal access to opportunity and cultural respect can transform lives and strengthen the Latino workforce, opening doors to economic mobility.  

Trust is not just a word. It is foundational, especially in Latino communities, where trust is built through connections and cultural respect. Yet many Latinos cite costs and a lack of trust as leading reasons for why they do not have a bank account, leaving them disproportionately underserved at banks and other financial institutions.  

When UnidosUS sees such challenges, its committed staff rises to the occasion, asking crucial questions like what will it take to build trust? How can we support our communities and ensure everyone, especially Latinos, have full and equal access to banking and financial services?  

UnidosUS’s Latinos in Finance program was one response. By investing in bilingual banking and finance professions, can we build a career pathway in financial services that offer skills-based jobs with growth opportunities and competitive wages?  

In 2016, thanks to the generous support of our partners, that answer was and remains “yes.”

“Talent is distributed equally, but not opportunity,” says Luis A. Quiñones, vice president of Workforce Development and Adult Education at UnidosUS. “Programs like Latinos in Finance are equalizers of those opportunities. It fosters and showcases Latino talent to connect them with good jobs that allow career growth and economic prosperity.”  

A few years into the program, in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Latinos in Finance program helped thousands of participants strengthen their skills through job training, resulting in them advancing their careers and starting new jobs.  

Since July 2025, the program’s impact continues to grow:  

• More than 6,400 people learned about personal finance and honed the skills needed for customer-facing jobs.  

• Nearly 5,000 participants graduated with the skills necessary to provide culturally competent banking services that better serve consumers, especially multicultural and multilingual consumers like Latinos. 

• An estimated 1,800 graduates launched careers in commercial banking or financial industries.  

On the West Coast, Cindy C. applied to entry-level positions at local retailers but was repeatedly rejected. It was a discouraging experience. Yet during a routine check-up for her son, she encountered a turning point through a questionnaire that asked about whether patients were experiencing employment struggles. Answering that questionnaire resulted in her doctor connecting her to Fresh Start Women’s Foundation as an employment resource that gave Cindy practical knowledge in the banking industry and also sharpened her interview skills. Earlier this year, Cindy was hired by one of the nation’s largest banks.  

This is one of many examples of how access to opportunity, community support and targeted training can transform lives and open doors to economic mobility. And this opportunity doesn’t close if participants aren’t able to remain in the program.  

Juan B. first joined the Latinos in Finance cohort at Centro Hispano of Dane County in 2024 but had to make the difficult decision to withdraw just two weeks in. Despite the abrupt end, he remained determined to do what he could by strengthening his bilingual skills. When Centro Hispano of Dane County started recruiting for the next cohort, Juan reached out, hoping to have another shot.  

He joined the new cohort and put in the same tremendous effort into class discussions, learning activities and assignments, building a positive environment for his peers — and catching the attention of multiple employers. Because of his commitment and support from UnidosUS’s Latinos in Finance program, he was offered a higher-level position at a local bank, showcasing another powerful example of community support and growth.  

Programs like Latinos in Finance, however, are not only about getting a job in the financial industry. It’s about building professional skills as well as soft skills — like building confidence — that ensure workers land family-sustaining jobs in any industry.  

“We have seen how this program changes the economic trajectory of families,” Quiñones says. “All because one person took a chance to change their lives and that created a ripple effect in their families.”  

And this ongoing success is built around trust: Trust among UnidosUS workforce development staff, employer partners, community-based organizations and UnidosUS Affiliates, and community members. Each person is invested in understanding the needs throughout communities, working together to advance programs and policies that support communities across the country, and result in individual and community successes.