Patty Juarez is Wells Fargo’s new head of Hispanic/Latino Affairs, a newly created position that will task Juarez with building a Hispanic/Latino external engagement portfolio focused on national cultural engagement, executive recruitment, business development, and stakeholder relations.

Juarez joined Wells Fargo in 1995 as a financial analyst and has spent more than 26 years in commercial banking where she has held various leadership roles. Internally, Juarez is the president of Latin Connection, one of the largest employee resource groups at Wells Fargo (50 chapters), representing more than 40,000 Latinos. She will be significantly involved in the Hispanic/Latino community of Los Angeles County, which according to 2022 census estimates, makes up almost half of the county’s population. 

Why was this new position created? 

We are growing by leaps and bounds. Our consumer business is heavily driven by Hispanics, who are taking out more first-time mortgages than anybody else on the planet, establishing increasingly more small businesses and engaging in entrepreneurship. I think our operating committee saw me bringing a lot of findings about the Hispanic/Latino community to the forefront. The bank also wanted to make a very intentional commitment to furthering this work, and to really focus the efforts of a high-level executive on making more inroads, lessening the gaps, and helping the community with financial services.

What personal or professional lessons are you keeping in mind as you take on this position?

I think that comes down to the same pillars that I’ve always really embraced. First, you have to work hard. There’s no replacement for hard work. Do what you love. There’s no replacement and you’re never going to perform at the top of your game if you don’t love what you do. We all have lives and there’s a lot of demand on our time, so you have to love what you do. I love this space, but I think you also have to be strategic and look for ways in which you can make a difference or make improvements through your role.

How will your role aid business development in Los Angeles? What sectors will be impacted by your work?

When you look at the industries most typically represented by diverse business owners, there’s a lot of people in the service industry, there’s a lot in staffing (firms), auto businesses, service-oriented jobs as well as technology companies. So there’s definitely a lot of industries. We’re seeing a huge surge of Latinos in technology which is about time. 3% is not enough in terms of representation. I’m just excited to work with various industries and specific clients. We want businesses to scale. For as long as I’ve been at the bank, the great message (my clients) always tell me is that they are to see me rising through the ranks of the company and being able to be more intentional and more focused on bringing about change to our community. That’s the wind beneath my wings.

What is important when it comes to recruiting new executives?

(Executives) have to develop relationships with people and convince them that what they would come to do is of value for the community. I’m also focused on retention. We have leaders here and we have got to care for them. We have to make sure they’re feeling the support of the bank so that they’re incentivized to continue here because it doesn’t matter how many people you bring in if they’re going out the back door. It’s important that we emphasize relationships and retention.