Inclusiv is pleased to share our Juntos Avanzamos (Together We Advance) e-book, Celebrating Credit Unions Serving Hispanic Communities.
At 60 million and growing, the Hispanic population has a substantial impact on the U.S. economy, generating economic activity, revenue, and jobs. However, along with other communities of color, Hispanics have suffered from the economic fall-out of COVID-19, accounting for 23 percent of the initial job losses even though they represent 16 percent of the population.
Juntos Avanzamos is a financial inclusion framework that provides a roadmap for credit unions interested in meeting the needs of the Hispanic and immigrant communities, By working through the Juntos Avanzamos designation process, credit unions start a journey that will help them increase the diversity of their membership, staff and volunteers while fully embracing - and applying - the DEI principles.
Throughout the COVID crisis, Juntos Avanzamos credit unions have helped their members by activating community partnerships, offering fee waivers, emergency loans, loan forgiveness, forbearance, Paycheck Protection Program lending, and technical assistance for small businesses. As of today, the Juntos Avanzamos network has 115 participating credit union serving 8 million members in 27 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. From special loans to grants. credit unions have answered the call and proven, once again, they are the ideal financial partner for Hispanic people and communities nationwide.
Want to learn more about Juntos Avanzamos? Contact René Vargas Martínez, Senior Program Officer at Inclusiv, at rvargasmartinez@inclusiv.org.