New York Life showed its growing commitment to the Latino Community in 2013 by organizing a firstof-its-kind series of summits designed to solely focus on the Latino/Hispanic market. These summits were created to drive awareness and help our agents and other Latino/Hispanic financial professionals develop action plans and expand their capacity to bring financial information and planning assistance to their own communities.
The first of these events involved New York Life’s Hispanic Market Division and Latino Employee Resource Group, in conjunction with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The second event, named “The Latina Leaders Summit,” was a two day conference hosted by New York Life in partnership with LatinaStyle magazine, Women in Insurance and Financial Services, and the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting.
Both summits served as platforms for Latino/Hispanic professionals to share insights about the opportunities and challenges in today’s economy, and to share new ways to improve access to financial literacy and planning in the community. Networking and leadership development opportunities were also part of the summit experience.
“Through programs like these, New York Life adds value to the community by being a connector for its professionals, by providing education and new ideas, and by becoming a conduit for business opportunity,” says Hector Vilchis, a corporate vice president and market manager of New York Life’s Hispanic Market Initiative.
Following the Latina Leaders Summit, New York Life has seen several of the attendees create Latina study and mentorship groups. In addition, a national Latina leadership program was created to encourage and develop successful management candidates. The program included conference calls and events geared towards Latina professionals achieving higher levels of professional success. This has led to increased interest and enrollment of Latinas in the management career track and in our top producer programs.