Bread Financial: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

Oct 20, 2022 3:10 PM ET
associates interviewed

Hear from Hispanic/Latinx BRG (HLBRG) associates who are making meaningful contributions to our business, community and have important perspectives to share in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Christina Santana
Collections Associate
Bread Financial associate for 3.5 years

How do you give back to the Hispanic/Latinx community?

I’m part of the Katherine Casares Foundation. Every year, we come together and have a school drive to donate book bags and school supplies to give back to children in the Dominican Republic. This group helps every child to be prepared to learn and succeed in their educational pursuits.

What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you?

Hispanic Heritage Month is the time we celebrate who we are - all of our diversity, colors, countries, music and, most of all, food! We come together as one. We celebrate Latinos who paved the way for Hispanics around the world to celebrate this beautiful occasion.

What makes you most proud about working for Bread Financial?

What makes me most proud of working for Bread Financial is how they truly care about associate growth and development. They teach us ways to be better at our jobs by coaching and helping us to find the right answers. The company’s focus on associate growth and development makes Bread Financial a great place to work.

Eduardo Campos
Global Support Specialist
Bread Financial associate for 7 years

How do you give back to the Hispanic/Latinx community?

Personally, I do not feel like I do enough, which is why I joined the Hispanic/Latinx BRG. I am excited for the opportunities that will be presented in this BRG to give back to my community while representing Bread Financial.

What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you?

Margaritas, music, and dancing! A month-long fiesta to celebrate the different cultures in all of Latin America. Every culture has a unique way of doing things and learning from every culture is a beautiful thing!

What makes you most proud about working for Bread Financial?

All the great opportunities to learn and move to different departments, from stretch to apprenticeships, and the encouragement from leadership to learn new tasks and explore different roles. Even working from home, we still maintain the sense of community amongst our teams. The tuition reimbursement is also great, as I am currently working on my accounting degree. At Bread Financial, associates are not only recognized, but valued.

Clara Darnell
Payment Solutions Specialist
Bread Financial associate for 6 years

How do you give back to the Hispanic/Latinx community?

I often interpret for Spanish only speakers when the need arises, for example at stores or out in the community. I also participate in community activities, sharing my heritage by showing artifacts or even sharing a Mexican recipe or food.

What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you?

I am very proud to be Hispanic, Latina, Mexican. I love having a month to celebrate my heritage and see how the community celebrates locally and around the world, especially In Mexico. I like to learn about our history and those before us that have stood out in the community and represented the Latinx culture.

What makes you most proud about working for Bread Financial?

I enjoy being able to help the Latinx community with their payments, educating them on the best way to keep their accounts current, and offering new payment solutions. I am very proud that Bread Financial cares about their associates and customers. Bread Financial is always improving on ways to compensate, recognize & support all of their associates.

Emma Lara
Product Designer
Bread Financial associate for 4 months

How do you give back to the Hispanic/Latinx community?

I give back to the Hispanic community whenever I can, whether it be assisting and translating to get individuals vaccinated during the pandemic or working with a local library to teach STEM to an under-resourced, Hispanic community.

What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you?

Hispanic Heritage Month to me means being proud of where we come from and remembering that no matter where we go, our heritage will always stay with us. On a more personal level, it means being appreciative of my grandparents for uprooting their life and moving their seven children from their home to a new, unfamiliar place to create a better life for their 21 grandchildren and even more great-grandchildren. Their sacrifice is not unique in the Hispanic community and Hispanic Heritage Month is a reminder of that.

What makes you most proud about working for Bread Financial?

I am proud to work at Bread Financial because it reminds me of how far I have come in my life. They provide a place where community and diversity are not only recognized but valued.

Margarita Saenz
Customer Care Operations Lead Supervisor, Sr.
Bread Financial associate for 11 years

How do you give back to the Hispanic/Latinx community?

One of the things I am really passionate about is keeping our culture alive and sharing anything I can with the next generation. My familia and I help spread that through music, dancing and entertaining. Here in New Mexico, my husband plays for a well-known New Mexican artist, and I attend whenever I can to support the local musicianship. We also share Hispanic/Latinx music with our neighbors and the youth of our community, and we have a dream of having our own studio and "school of rock" someday! Having two boys of our own, we have worked very hard to instill the love for our culture’s music in them. While there are lots of different genres of music, you will more often than not likely hear Hispanic songs blaring from our casa.

What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you?

Hispanic Heritage month to me means taking time to celebrate our diverse and rich culture. It’s taking time to embrace so many pieces of what makes us who we are and sharing it with others. This month is a special time to highlight anything we feel that plays an important part of telling the story of our people and our heritage.

What makes you most proud about working for Bread Financial?

I am most proud of the way Bread Financial cares about everyone’s well-being through the benefits we offer: Living Well, DE&I, and philanthropy, to name a few. We are always trying to implement new and innovative ways to keep our people happy. We have a great culture that has been deep-rooted for a long time - culture is something that has kept me here and will continue to keep me here for years to come.

Javier Moreno III
Deposit Operations Specialist
Bread Financial associate for 9 years

How do you give back to the Hispanic/Latinx community?

It’s wonderful to support a local Hispanic business in my small community in northern Colorado that provides food I’m familiar with. There aren’t too many Hispanic businesses in my area so I’m happy to shop there. The store owner is from the same state as my family in Jalisco, Mexico. I’ve gotten to know the owner and they recognize my family when we go shopping.

What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you?

Hispanic Heritage Month is the time to show people our wonderful culture. We have many traditions that are shared with this country, so it’s great to be spotlighted for our contributions to American culture.

What makes you most proud about working for Bread Financial?

I’m most proud of the ability to move into new positions at Bread Financial. Associates have so many opportunities to advance, move to new locations or try a new position through the apprentice program.

Ida Salaz
Payment Solutions Specialist
Bread Financial associate for 5 years

How do you give back to the Hispanic/Latinx community?

I help with my local church’s food bank. I believe in helping all Latinos and everyone who needs help!

What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you?

I love to celebrate our beautiful culture, dancing, food traditions and remember our ancestors. I’m so thankful for all of my family who migrated to the United States and made this place our home. I am very proud of my heritage coming from adobe homes and I’m blessed my family is in a better place. I love celebrating the younger generation and seeing them step forward with undergraduate and graduate degrees. It’s a blessing for all of us to be in a country with so many opportunities.

What makes you most proud about working for Bread Financial?

I’m most proud working for this company because there are great, caring people working here, and there are so many opportunities to succeed in our careers.