Mary Guerrero was a first-generation Latina and an investment banking analyst at a top tier bank on Wall Street-Bulge Bracket Bank (BBB). She was committed to increasing representation of Latinx talent at her firm. She was already doing a lot of individual work to make this happen (e.g. reviewing candidate resumes at 2am after she had finished her assigned work). She wanted to scale her efforts and debated whether she should build a broader coalition to move the needle on Latinx talent representation despite having a demanding full-time workload.

Mary Guerrero decided to pursue the challenging road and kicked off Hispanic/Latinx Advancement and Career Engagement (HACE) at her Bulge Bracket Bank (BBB). For Mary, her larger purpose was to advance Latinx talent in the U.S. because she believed it was important for leadership at major U.S. firms to mirror the composition of the country. With Latinx representing almost 18.3% of the U.S. population but only holding 3.8% of board seats, she saw a problem that needed to be addressed. She understood what getting a job at a prestigious Bulge Bracket Bank on Wall Street meant for a Latinx. It meant not only learning hard skills like financial modeling but also earning credibility. Mary's life journey from growing up in a low-income neighborhood to earning a coveted spot on Wall Street was difficult and she wanted to make that path easier for others.