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Business Diversity Outreach: Connecting with Diverse Communities
Jesus Jaramillo knows the importance of community and how it can play a role in business success. Born and raised in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in Nogales, Ariz., Jesus saw firsthand how companies that sought to truly understand his community's needs were rewarded with loyal customers.

It's a lesson he took to heart when he and his wife began building their vending service company in Phoenix in 1988. “I set out to serve Hispanic business owners because, as one myself, it was a market I inherently understood but knew was underserved,” Jesus says. He also joined the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce's Hispanic Business Council to build relationships with other Hispanic business owners and to find additional ways to access Phoenix's growing Hispanic population, which accounts for half of the city's 3.5 million people.

The Hispanic Business Council is where Jesus first met Gil Valadez, managing director of Prudential's Greater Southwest Agency, and learned there was more he could do to help the Hispanic community. Gil, too, was looking to better serve the Hispanic market in Arizona—and to recruit from that same market financial services associates for his agency. To that end, Gil has been partnering with several Latino organizations in the state, including the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, the Association of Hispanic MBAs and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, to hold summit strategy sessions and career seminars.

Gil's efforts are part of Prudential's Business Diversity Outreach initiative. Coordinated in conjunction with Community Resources, the initiative aims to make connections with diverse communities across the country in order to expand business opportunities, strengthen Prudential's brand in these markets and recruit employees.

It was after attending several of Gil's strategy sessions that Jesus decided to enroll in Prudential's sales training program in 2004. “I soon came to realize that Prudential was doing the same thing I was in giving back to the community, but on a much larger scale. I saw joining the company as a way to deliver improved financial services to the Hispanic community,” Jesus says.

Jesus is already doing just that. He's currently working on an alliance with a local bank to provide protection products to Hispanic business owners—a market he is uniquely suited to serve. “This market makes sense for me. I've been in their shoes, I know their language and I know their culture,” Jesus says. “I also know what they need, and I can help them both move their business forward and better understand the importance of protecting that business in the event something should happen to them.”

This translates into a win for Prudential as well. Diverse groups make up a growing portion of the U.S. population, and their purchasing power is also on the rise. The Hispanic market, for example, possesses a purchasing power of $600 billion today and is expected to reach $1 trillion five years from now.

“The Latin market is certainly an attractive market for us,” says Gil. “And recruiting people like Jesus who can better service this market gives Prudential a leg up on the competition.”

And a leg up on the competition is at the heart of the Business Diversity Outreach initiative. In 2004 alone, Business Diversity Outreach lent its support to more than 95 cultural and business events across the country. It sponsored the National Association of Black Accountants, the Human Rights Campaign, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Asian Women in Business and the Asian American Legal Defense Fund. It was also a premier sponsor of the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting's annual conference in Albuquerque and a co-sponsor of the Hispanic Federation of New York's annual gala.

This strategy of developing a broader spectrum of professional relationships in our communities has been successful in giving Prudential greater access to new business opportunities, as well as giving diverse markets and the organizations that serve them access to employment opportunities and financial support.
 
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