As a firm, we know that we are only as strong as the communities we serve and the economies they support. Our commitment to an inclusive economy and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts is not new—through our established DEI Centers of Excellence, we take a unified and intersectional approach to delivering impact for employees, clients, customers and the communities we serve. One of these Centers of Excellence is Advancing Hispanics & Latinos.

Our firm believes that all communities should have the same opportunities to thrive and succeed.

Through the firm’s Advancing Hispanics & Latinos (AHL) initiative, we are promoting the growth of these communities by supporting small business owners looking for capital to get off the ground or scale, customers seeking financial health and tools to buy their first homes, clients seeking to build their wealth, students learning to save or land their first jobs, employees accessing professional development opportunities and so much more.

The firm is focused on long-term impact and outcomes, including within the Hispanic community – a key contributor to U.S. economy. Building on our existing investments, our $30 billion Racial Equity Commitment focuses on expanding affordable housing, increasing homeownership, growing small businesses, improving financial health and accelerating investment in our employees. Through this work, we are helping more customers open low-cost checking accounts, deploying loan funding to incentivize the preservation of nearly affordable housing rental units across the United States, among other accomplishments.

Our efforts extend far beyond significant philanthropic. For example, at the local level, we support educational institutions and work-skills training programs around the world, as well as finance affordable housing and small businesses. In addition, we help formulate broad-based policies that are good for countries on issues such as healthcare, infrastructure, education and employment. The firm’s Global Supplier Diversity team contributes time, and subject matter expertise to Hispanic and Latino-owned companies through diverse business advocacy organizations such as the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Latino Business Action Network, and the National Minority Supplier Development Council.

Within our own walls, we seek to create a company that reflects different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives, and a workplace in which all employees feel they belong and are respected. Hispanics represent 21% of our U.S. workforce, and we are continuously working to ensure we have representation at all levels.

In addition, our Adelante Business Resource Group supports career development and community involvement opportunities for over 29,000 members across the globe.

We believe these efforts not only make us a positive work environment, but they also make our company stronger, our business more profitable and our institution a better global corporate citizen.

On behalf of our nearly 300,000 employees, thank you for the honor of being your 2023 Company of the Year.