Luz Hernandez

I have a deep passion for helping others that has driven my entire career. I've been in banking for about 15-16 years and have served as a Senior Training Facilitator for 8 years at Association Health of Chicago's Financial Careers Training program, where I am one of two facilitators. My journey into banking began unexpectedly when I was working in not-for-profit HR and delivered a workshop presentation that impressed banking executives and colleagues, leading them to invite me into the industry. Throughout my banking career, I progressed through various roles including Bank at Works relationship manager, senior banker, associate banker, loan processor, and mortgage originator. Eventually, I transitioned back to the not-for-profit sector, where all my accumulated experience came together in my current role. Today, I prepare candidates to begin careers in finance, specifically banking, though we're expanding to other areas of finance. Working with curriculum provided by Unidos U.S., I facilitate 14 modules over 5-hour sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. I teach both soft skills and hard skills, covering banking fundamentals, loss compliance, interviewing techniques, and confidence building through mock interviews and resume consultations. I also prepare students to earn the American Bankers Association Universal Banker Certificate, a nationally recognized certification. The biggest challenge in my work is providing students with as much information as possible within our limited time in this high-paced program, especially since we guarantee interviews with bank partners at the end. I'm bilingual and fluent in both English and Spanish, which allows me to deliver this training in both languages and serve diverse communities in Chicago where there has been a lack of training, guidance, and financial literacy resources.