“My family owned a small factory that produced dresses for young girls. My parents were my first examples of leadership, creating a sense of camaraderie among their workers by providing lunch once a week, celebrating birthdays, and organizing occasional outings. Despite having limited knowledge of American culture and language, my parents worked tirelessly to build their business from the ground up and achieved great success.”

Despite those good memories, Sonia now acknowledges that financial literacy among the Latino community needs to improve, as there are still many barriers when it comes to accessing resources that benefit the lives of disadvantaged communities across de United States. Speaking about her family, “accessing resources was not easy for them due to skepticism and fear. As a result, I am committed to bringing Spanish resources to our communities to help Latinos thrive and access important information about health and finances.”

It is with that mission in mind that Sonia started a collaboration with Hispanic Access Foundation in 2013. At the time, she was the Multicultural Business Development Manager for H&R Block in Dallas, Texas. 

“My role involved overseeing community engagement efforts through tax-related workshops, which was of great importance to our community.”

In the present, Sonia continues her ongoing support and commitment to Latino families along with Hispanic Access Foundation. She currently collaborates with Hispanic Access Foundation's Partnership Engagement Director, Christine Tamara, to bring valuable resources and information on financial investments to the community through their newest initiative "Prepárate para un futuro mejor". This initiative is hosted by four different churches in the Southern California region to provide free financial literacy courses focused on retirement plans and creating strong budgets to better prepare Latinos in their financial journey. 

“This is another crucial topic that can help our community make their hard-earned money work harder for them.”

Now, as an Engagement Leader for Thrivent, Sonia continues to support the mission of the Hispanic Access Foundation and her passion to help the Latino community, offering valuable information that helps reduce the financial literacy gap in our community.

“For me, a leader is an individual that inspires a team to align and deliver results on the overall organization’s strategy.”

To find a financial literacy workshop near you, visit hispanicaccess.org/finance.