Mayra Navarro’s bank closed her account after a series of overdrafts. She wasn’t eligible to open another bank account because she had been blacklisted by ChexSystems, an agency that tracks consumers’ banking histories. Like many unbanked Hispanics, she turned to prepaid debit cards, check cashing services and money orders, which all came with fees.

“I felt like I had failed at life and lost all control,” says Navarro, an executive assistant in California.

She’s not alone. Recent data by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation reveals that approximately 16% of Hispanic households don’t have bank accounts. THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

It makes sense for advertisers to target Hispanics, considering the continual growth of the segment.

But there is another advantage in focusing on the Hispanic audience: They’re great at passing along word of mouth brand endorsements.

That’s according to a study from Keller Fay Group, which looked at brand mentions per week over the course of a year.

It found the general public made an average of 62 brand mentions per week, both online and offline. That number was 58 per week for non-Hispanics.

Among Hispanics the number was significantly higher, at 80 word of mouth mentions per week. That included 75 brand mentions per week for English-speaking Hispanics and 83 per week for Spanish-speaking Hispanics. READ MORE AT MEDIALIFE

Read feature guest biographies of the 2016 Fall Banking and Finance Networking Forum next Wednesday October 19 at the Dana Hotel and Spa Chicago.

Moderator

Nora Renteria, TV Host, Un Nuevo Amanecer, as featured on Telemundo Chicago

Nora Renteria is a professional Operational Risk manager at BMO Harris with more than a 10 years in corporate financial. She is a TV co-host for “Un Nuevo Amanecer” on Telemundo, as well as an author of “Today’s Inspired Latina” and public speaker at schools and corporations. She is also an active community volunteer for several non-for- profit organizations.

Nora has a special interest in empowering young adults by mentoring and serves on the board of directors for a non-profit organization. She holds a B.A in Business Administration from Columbia College and a Leadership certificate from Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE). Nora has also been featured in Inc. Magazine, radio shows and Telemundo television.

Discussion Panelists

Rodrigo Garcia, Head of Investments Banking & Finance, Illinois State Treasury

Rodrigo Garcia serves as the Chief Investment Officer and Chief Financial Officer for the Illinois State Treasury. In this pivotal executive post, Garcia directs the treasury’s combined $25 billion fixed income, equity, and venture capital portfolios, all investment and financial professionals, multiple asset classes and $300 billion in related banking and financial services in order to maximize portfolio returns and bolster the Illinois macro and micro economy.

He holds two post-graduate degrees, one in finance from the University of Illinois and one in public policy from Northwestern University and recently completed a senior executives program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Garcia was previously the Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs and a member of the Illinois Cabinet, and has also worked for Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Garcia serves as the Chairman Emeritus of Student Veterans of America, as Chairman of the National Hispanic Life Sciences Society, as Board Vice President for Teatro Vista Theatre Company, and as a trustee for the Northeastern Illinois University Foundation Board. He is also a Marshall Memorial Fellow, an ACPYL Fellow, a Truman Partner and an Aspen Institute Scholar. Garcia has also been named one of the "Top 100 under 50" Executive Leaders by Diversity MBA Magazine and was recognized as a "Rising Star" by the National Society of Hispanic MBA's.

He is an avid entrepreneur, a successful financier, and an angel investor.

Gisela Reyna Gutiérrez, Director of Finance, Northwestern University -Kellogg School of Management

Gisela is the Director of Finance at Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management, she oversees the Financial Operations of the Executive Education program comprised of Open Enrollment and Custom programs, and the Executive Master’s Program both in Evanston and Miami campus. She has 23 years of service in academia, 3 of those at her current position. She has held different positions within Northwestern University.

Gisela is co-founder of Kellogg Enlace Network an employee led resource group and currently serves as the co-president. She has volunteered for various organizations including UNITE Civic Association in her community and for Ladder-Up a City-Wide Tax Assistance Program that provides free tax return preparation for the underserved community. She has also served as a mentor for new incoming freshman.

Gisela received her Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science with a minor in Human Resources from Northeastern University and MBA certificate from Kellogg School of Management - Executive Education. Also holds an Associate Degree in Accounting from Truman College.

Lori Hernandez, Vice President, Sr. Relationship Manager, BMO Harris Bank

Lori Hernandez serves as Vice President, Senior Commercial Relationship Manager, providing customized credit solutions to privately held businesses since 1998. She has extensive commercial banking experience and has sourced and managed loan portfolios in excess of $133 Million with some of the most sensitive and complex client relationships. She has worked at three leading financial institutions and was recognized as a top banker having sourced and closed $89 Million in 36 months, prior to joining BMO Harris Bank in 2015.

Lori is committed to her clients’ success and has a particular expertise in working with business owners seeking to grow their businesses. She anticipates clients’ choices by actively listening and fully grasping their vision, objectives, and needs. Subsequently, she structures customized credit and cash management solutions to help facilitate operating efficiencies and long term growth.

Lori graduated with upper level distinction honors and obtained her finance degree from Northern Illinois University. Active in civic and community affairs, Lori has been involved in many organizations as the Vice Chair of the Greater North Chicago Development Corporation, Midwest Business Brokers and Intermediaries, Schaumburg Business Association, Commercial Real Estate Executive Women, and the Executive Women's Golf Association, as well as local chambers of commerce.

Jesse L. Martinez, CEO, Trust One Mortgage LLC.

Jesse L. Martinez is a Chicago native and has more than 22 years of Mortgage, real estate, and financial experience. Getting his start as an investor at age 21, when he bought his first multi-unit investment property in 1993. From 1998 to 2008, he owned a mortgage company. Building his corporation to eight locations with over 200 employees. His business’s also included a title company, along with a real estate investment firm where he purchased, rehabbed and sold properties.

Since 2008, he has served as Vice President for Global Wealth and Investment Management at Bank of America. Later he worked as Vice President for the Premier Client Group at Bmo Harris Bank and other financial institutions.

Today, he serves as the CEO of Trust One Mortgage, LLC. located in the south loop. This organization specializes in educating the public and presenting mortgage options to serve each clients’ individual needs. His partners and staff possess a wealth of knowledge ensuring the very best relationship-driven customer service experience possible.
Jesse enjoys spending time with his two children and engaging in their activities. He is currently a coach for his daughter’s hockey team.

Don't miss out. Time is running out to register >> http://bit.ly/2dPYe5M

If you sit at your desk, stare out the window, and wish for a job that actually makes you happy, then it may be time to move your career in a new direction. This is especially true if you've been at it for a few years and find that nothing ever gets better. While we all occasionally get stuck in a bad gig for money's sake, life is simply too short to spend your working hours doing something you find boring, tedious, or unfulfilling.

This is true long-term jobs, but it also applies to new jobs that you find yourself despising. READ MORE AT BUSTLE

If you’re not working with Hispanic clients, you’re missing a huge market, as they remain one of the fastest growing homebuying demographics.

However, if you’re not Hispanic yourself, there are a few things you might want to know before you dive in. Below are some tips from the top two winners of NAHREP’s Top 250 award, Mario Negron, owner/broker associate, RE/MAX Prestige in Houston, Texas, and Claudia Restrepo, of Keller Williams Realty The Legacy Group in Spokane, Wash.

Don’t forget to listen. “The biggest mistake agents make when working with Hispanic clients is not paying attention,” READ MORE AT RISMEDIA

Jorge Gutierrez had a degree in business and a passion to own a company. His wife, Erika Gutierrez, had a degree and after working her way to the top position at an early child learning company was at a crossroads — continue as director or open her own school.

The Schererville couple chose the entrepreneurial route, joining a growing number of Hispanics in Indiana and across the country in owning their own businesses. READ MORE AT CHICAGO TRIBUNE

ABC 7 CHICAGO will highlight the rich culture and traditions of Chicago’s Hispanic community during Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15-October 15.  ABC 7 will celebrate Chicago’s diverse community with special news reports; the broadcast of the The 26^th Street Mexican Independence Day Parade; a half-hour edition of THE Ñ BEAT; a series of vignettes and special segment on ABC 7’s Windy City LIVE featuring a Latino Fashion Week fashion show. 

The 26^th Street Mexican Independence Day Parade, sponsored by the Little Village Chamber of Commerce, is hosted by ABC 7’s Stacey Baca and Cesareo Moreno, chief curator of the National Museum of Mexican Art.  ABC 7’s parade broadcast, in the heart of the Little Village neighborhood, illuminates Mexican culture and is considered one of the most colorful parades in Chicago.  More than 200,000 spectators are treated to mariachi bands and floats including the ABC 7 Chicago float, where members of the ABC 7 Eyewitness team – Rob Elgas, Michelle Gallardo, John Garcia, Leah Hope, Will Jones and Roz Varon --will be riding and greeting those watching along the parade route.  This year’s Grand Marshal is Grammy Award Winning singer/musician Ramon Ayala. The parade kicks off at Noon and airs on ABC 7 from 4-5PM on Sunday, September 11.

Throughout September and October, ABC 7 will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with vignettes spotlighting some of the influential and talented artists and business persons who will be featured in the upcoming October 8th edition of THE Ñ BEAT.

ABC 7’s Windy City LIVE, with hosts Val Warner and Ryan Chiaverini, will spotlight Latino Fashion Week by featuring some of the hottest fashions from emerging Latina and Latino designers, Thursday, September 29 at 1:00 PM.

ABC 7 will broadcast its Emmy Award-winning program, THE Ñ BEAT, hosted by Stacey Baca, with special contributions by ABC 7’s Tanja Babich, Rob Elgas, Michelle Gallardo, John Garcia, and Roz Varon, Saturday, October 8 at 6:30 PM, with an encore presentation on Sunday, October 9, at 4:30 PM.   

          On this Hispanic Heritage Month edition of THE Ñ BEAT, the show highlights the Puerto Rican Cultural Museum. Located in Humboldt Park, in the center of Chicago’s Puerto Rican community, the museum is the only self-standing museum in the nation devoted exclusively to showcasing Puerto Rican Art and Culture year-round. Chief Executive Officer Billy Ocasio talks about this special place where a gala celebrating Hamilton playwright, Lin-Manuel Miranda, will take place.

 Then, KC Caldwell, managing editor of Hispanic Executives, gives some insight on this national publication, which is located right here in Chicago.  Next, some of the most eye-popping fashions from Latino fashion Week designers will be featured front and center. Then, THE Ñ BEAT samples some mouth-watering home-cooked dishes from the only Costa Rican Restaurant in Chicago. Irazu, located in the Buck Town neighborhood, is an American Dream turned into reality for this family owned business.

This half-hour special will also profile the talented Erick "Roho" Garcia, the artist in residence at Blue 1647, an entrepreneurship and technology innovation center. Garcia has taught art for After School Matters for 8 years and even founded his own incubator for up and coming artists struggling to get discovered, called EXPO Collective. 

The Ñ Beat and The 26^th Street Mexican Independence Day Parade will be available on-demand at www.abc7chicago.com. Cathy Karp is the producer of the parade. Matt Knutson is the executive producer of Windy City LIVE.  Rubye Wilson and Holly Grisham are the producers of THE Ñ BEAT.

Janeth Barrera Cantu has spent most of her 18 years living in a cramped trailer in rural North Carolina with her three siblings and parents. Eight years ago, her father was deported to Mexico, where he was shot and killed, a crime that remains unsolved. For several years afterward, her mother, Maria, was left as the sole breadwinner for the family of five.

The trailer is just down the road from Hickory, a town Reader’s Digest named one of the 10 best places in America to raise a family and that business magazines have hailed for its entrepreneurial climate. That’s where Maria Cantu earns a living cleaning houses. She now has a boyfriend who helps raise the children; he works in a glove factory. READ MORE AT THE ATLANTIC

A new GenForward survey finds more young blacks and Latinos feel that they can't depend on family to help financially than do whites or Asians. That includes big-ticket items like college tuition as well as smaller expenses.

More than half of millennials of all races and ethnicities think an unexpected bill of $1000 would cause them financial difficulty. Nearly two-thirds of whites and Asian-Americans say their families could help them cover that expense, compared to 46 percent of Hispanics and 42 percent of African-Americans.

An assist from parents or family gives some young Americans financial security, allowing them to attend college or purchase a home. READ MORE AT FOX BUSINESS

Are you a recent college graduate? Or is your career stuck in a low gear? I’ll bet you’ve been receiving a lot of career advice from your family and friends. All well intentioned, I’m sure.

So I’m going to give you some career advice that, most likely, no one has told you yet — and that you might not want to hear. But if your goal is to climb the proverbial career ladder, then you should keep reading.

Your career is YOUR responsibility. That’s right, your responsibility. READ MORE AT THE SEATTLE TIMES

With less than two months to go before voters head to the polls to elect our next president, our nation’s political parties, candidates and deep-pocketed donors are once again throwing around significant amounts of money to get the outcome they desire this November. Money is flowing everywhere, it seems, except toward the changes that will ensure Latino voters turn out not just for this election, but for the next one and the one after that.

NALEO Educational Fund projects that more than 13.1 million Latino voters are expected to turn out to vote this November. While this would be a record number of Latino voters for a single election, the potential for the electorate and our democracy would be even greater if we had the resources to move beyond the battleground states to mobilize the 27.3 million Latinos who are eligible to vote in 2016. READ MORE AT THE HILL

The U.S. Hispanic population may be the fastest growing ethnic segment in the country, but according to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study, it is also one of the most misunderstood, with a large portion of younger viewers in the demographic watching shows on multiple devices and preferring English-language content.

Hispanics currently number about 55 million residents in the U.S. and are and expected to grow to one-third of the entire country by 2060.

In its recent report – Always Connected: U.S.-based Hispanic consumers dominate mobile, entertainment and beyond – PwC found that the segment is one of the most tech-savvy – U.S. Hispanics are more likely to use newer technology like... READ MORE AT MULTICHANNEL NEWS

Introversion can be a limiting character trait in the hustle-and-bustle of job-seeking. Getting a job is all about ‘who you know’ rather than ‘what you know’, which makes it very hard for those who don’t exude effervescent confidence.

At some point you will have to suck it up and dive headfirst into an opportunity but until then, there are ways to still network without being the person to walk up to a higher-up at a party and introduce yourself.

The fact of the matter is that there is an overwhelming correlation between success and people who are master networkers. READ MORE AT LOOK

Every year during Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15) we recognize the contributions made and the presence of Hispanics in the U.S. However, your PR and marketing efforts should not be focused around this one month celebration but instead should continue year round. Here are 10 reasons why:

Fifty percent of the U.S. population growth from 2010 to 2015 came from Hispanics and now stands at 57 million, making it the nation’s second fastest growing group. The U.S. Census expects this key demographic to more than double within the next two generations.
In 2015, Hispanics controlled $1.3 trillion in buying power and it’s expected to reach $1.7 trillion in 2020. READ MORE AT BUSINESSWIRE

Latinos, the nation’s largest minority group, comprise 17 percent of the United States population. And that number continues to rise steadily. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2050 nearly one-third of the nation’s population will be Latino.

But Latinos are woefully underrepresented in many professions, particularly in healthcare. Fewer than five percent of registered nurses are Latino, according to the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In contrast, 8.3 percent of registered nurses are Asian Americans and about 10 percent are African-Americans. READ MORE AT DALLAS HEALTHCARE DAILY

Here’s one simple list that can take you farther than you ever believed possible in your work life — from your first job to retirement. OK, maybe it isn’t all the HR advice you will ever need, but it sure is a fine start.

• Never lie to your boss.

• Always say “we” when talking about your work team.

• If someone shares a personal secret, keep it, unless it undermines or jeopardizes a co-worker, client, boss or the company you work for. Then, you have an obligation to report it.

• You are accountable for your actions and decisions. Act like it. Own up if you drop the ball. Don’t blame others or the circumstances.

• Don’t expect others to do work you wouldn’t do yourself. READ MORE AT ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Hardworking Latinas want and deserve to get ahead in the workplace, but despite drive, talent and effort, many struggle. The absence of career role models in the family, sparse mentorship opportunities and educational divides can play a role in hindering Latinas’ professional advancement.

As the Hispanic population continues to grow, Latinas are poised to make up a larger segment of the workforce. To date, Latinas of all ages make up about one out of every five women in the United States. READ MORE AT USA TODAY

Every year, National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. While the "month" spans through two calendar months, it is observed to recognize the Hispanic and Latino American heritage, culture and contributions. Here are eight amazing facts about the Hispanic community in the United States:

1. Hispanics are no longer the fastest growing minority group. Latinos are no longer be the fastest growing minority group in the United States -- according to data from the United States Census Bureau, while non-Hispanic whites are still the largest racial group in the country (197.8 million), Asians were the fastest growing minority group in the United States in 2013 -- but that's not to say they won't be the predominant minority group in the future. Currently, there are 54 million Hispanics in the United States -- that's 17 percent of the nation's population -- which makes Latinos the largest growing minority group. READ MORE AT LATINTIMES

Keep your head down and your nose to the grindstone. That’s what a lot of us were taught to believe about work. But is it really the best strategy?

I find that people often take this sort of advice to heart — and then learn too late in their careers that there’s more to life (and success) than just keeping busy.

I’ve gathered up my top 10 lessons you should take to heart now, before it’s too late!

Life is short. Here’s the thing: Life is too short to put up with a job you hate, a boss who demeans you, or a company with no soul. READ MORE AT OBSERVER

America’s burgeoning Latino population offers a major opportunity for employers to address skill gaps in their workforce, proclaims a new report authored jointly by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management.

The opportunity comes from the enormous population growth. Hispanics account for 19 percent of millennials, and will likely account for an even larger share of the next generation of Americans to enter the workforce. Indeed, roughly a third of the overall U.S. Latino population is under the age of 18. READ MORE AT BENEFITSPRO