Join FCHCC at “Hola Emprende” Developing your Business with a Friendly Bank!
We are thrilled to announce the launch of this groundbreaking entrepreneurship event in Northeast Florida dedicated to empowering and supporting the Hispanic community.
Event Language: English and Spanish
Sponsor:
Event Details:
Date: September 7, 2023
Time: 9 AM – 5 PM
Cost: FREE
EVENT SOLD OUT
Location:
UNF Adam W. Herbert University Center
12000 Alumni Drive
Jacksonville, FL 32224
Map
ABOUT THIS EVENT
There will be English and Spanish sessions. This is a great opportunity to network with organizations, future clients, have access to future opportunities and learn from industry experts all while enjoying the invaluable partnership of a friendly bank that’s invested in your success. Don’t miss out on this incredible journey towards realizing your business dreams!
This FREE event has a full day of activities such as: breakout sessions in Spanish and panel discussions from Bank of America’s specialists.
Breakfast and lunch will be provided. Parking is FREE, seating is limited.
SPEAKERS
Monica Hernández was born in Cali, Colombia and moved to the United States at the age of 11. She grew up in Ocala, Florida and moved to Jacksonville in 2005. Monica is a graduate of Nova Southeastern University with a Master’s Degree in Finance and Marketing and a graduate of the University of North Florida with a Bachelor of Business Administration in International Business. Monica also holds a certification in Strategic Management from Harvard University.
Monica was appointed as President of the First Coast Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in 2019. Monica was also recognized in 2019 by the Jacksonville Business Journal in the Top 40 under 40, Northeast Florida’s brightest, most promising professionals under the age of 40. She was selected to be part of the Hightower Emerging Leaders Program by the Jax Chamber.
In 2020, Monica was selected to be part of Leadership Jacksonville, Class of 2021. She is fluent in both Spanish and English. She also serves on the board of the University of North Florida Student Affairs Community Council and University of North Florida International Business Flagship Program Business Advisory Council (BAC).
Elaine King is a Financial Education advocate, creator of the first family financial program in LATAM, and winner of the Best Latin book award. She was recognized in 2023 as Investopedia’s Top 10 Financial Advisors and in 2017 as People Magazine’s Top 25 Influential Hispanic Women. Elaine has been featured in the WSJ, Forbes, Telemundo, and CNN and is a columnist for financial journals in the US and LATAM.
Conchie Fernandez is the founder of CF Creative, a business development, communications, and tech enablement consulting firm based in South Florida that helps small and minority-owned companies to scale and expand their service footprints in public and private sector supply chains. In 2017, CF Creative received the Minority Marketing and Communications Firm of the Year Award by the U.S. Department of Commerce, for which they were again nominated in 2019. Conchie is one of 10 Hispanic entrepreneurs featured in a 2018 report by Stanford University on the impact on Hispanic entrepreneurship on the U.S. economy.
Christian Carabias was born in the beautiful city of Acapulco, Mexico. At the age of 18, Christian started to develop and polish his artistic qualities by joining a boy band called, “Tierra Cero” and was involved in three successful records with one of the biggest recording labels in the industry, BMG. After leaving Tierra Cero, Christian began acting. He perfected this craft within two of the most prestigious acting academies in Mexico, Televisa and Argos. He is also a graduate of CEA and has done many workshops with people such as Victor H. Mortant and Adriana Barraza.
Christian has illustrated his wide range of acting skills in diverse challenging roles in soap operas as well as motion pictures. He has worked in several TV productions such as “Valeria” from Venevision productions, “Protagonistas de Novela”, “Decisiones”, and “Mas Sabe el Diablo” from Telemundo NBC. And others such as “Mi Querida Isabel”, “Amigos por Siempre” and “Mujer: Casos de la Vida Real” of the Mexican Broadcasting Company TELEVISA.
He has also appeared on film in movies such as “Monserrate como el cerro”, “Los Ocho”, “Intercambio”, and many more. Carabias has also worked as a TV host on shows “Trendiando” and “Hola TV.” Christian has become a tourism ambassador for different destinations such as: Morelia, Barbados and Barichara in Columbia where he was named husband of the most beautiful woman in Colombia in a very creative action to promote wedding tourism, ambassador of luxury resorts such as Palladium Resort Costa Mujeres and affiliates in different destinations in the Caribbean.
Born in Puerto Rico, Jorge López, a Hispanic broadcasting sales specialist for more than two decades, is the VP of Sales for iHeartMedia’s Hispanic brands in Tampa and Jacksonville. He is focused on the company’s “Rumba” and Accion” brands in both markets. Lopez has 22 years of Hispanic broadcasting sales and management experience. He currently serves on the First Coast Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and is a Board member of the Jacksonville Mayor’s Hispanic-American Advisory Council.
Synthia Jaramillo is dedicated to serving Hispanic Business Enterprises in the United States and across the globe. She currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Corporate Relations for the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), America’s largest business advocacy organization for Hispanic Business Enterprises.
Synthia has prioritized initiatives to sustain and grow existing local businesses as well. She has led innovative programs to support small businesses and their employees during Covid-19; she guided and implemented a holistic plan for their sustainable recovery. Pre-pandemic, Synthia created the City of Albuquerque’s first Small Business Advocacy Office, which is solely focused on connecting businesses with the resources they need to launch or scale. She also spearheaded the creation of an innovative $1 million workforce training program called Job Training Albuquerque.
As a Market Executive within Business Banking, Coley Jones leads a professionals focused on understanding each client’s unique needs to deliver strategic financial guidance and solutions across North Florida, South Georgia and the Space Coast. His team focuses on mid-sized companies with revenues between $5 to $50 million dollars in annual sales providing expectational service and seamless experiences to help them thrive.
Coley has over 20 years of experience in the financial sector covering Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. Throughout his career he has shown the willingness and expertise to support clients no matter where they are in the business cycle.
He is the 2020 recipient of the Leadership Jacksonville Celebration award. To help create a more sustainable future for the companies and communities he serves, Coley volunteers with several not for profit organizations focused on civic improvements. In addition, he also serves as the Chairman of the board for Operation New Hope and Treasure for the Jacksonville Public Education Fund.
Marithza Calderon Ross is a Meteorologist/Traffic Anchor on Action News Jax This Morning, and she has played a key role in the launch of Telemundo Jacksonville as a Producer and On-Air Anchor.
Marithza is a native Texan and a first-generation college graduate from The University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, with a Master’s in Organizational Development and a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology. Marithza is a proud mom and wife and has been residing in Northeast Florida for 10 years.
Jonel Hein was appointed district director for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) North Florida District Office on December 19, 2022. As district director, Ms. Hein oversees the delivery of agency programs such as financial assistance, management counseling and business development. She is responsible for the daily operation of the district office in Jacksonville and an Alternate Work Site in Orlando, FL.
Her focus is on building and maintaining a viable network of collaborative partnerships with small business stakeholders and serving as a local resource representing the SBA at significant engagements.
Additionally, her responsibilities include advancing the SBA brand recognition through SBA initiatives, MOU’s and Strategic Partner Alliances.
The North Florida District office encompasses the 43 counties north of Orlando and through the Florida Panhandle and services more than 1.6 million small businesses. The district office’s recent successes for fiscal year 2022 include generating almost $830 million in loan approvals which created over 12,000 new jobs and over $745 million in contracting opportunities for our 8a firm portfolio.
Mrs. Hein has been with the SBA for 32 years; previously serving as an SBA Loan Officer for over 6 years. Prior to her civil service, she worked in consumer lending with several banks in Florida and Washington State. She is married, has 4 sons and 4 grandchildren.
Juan Chaluja is Florida Blue’s Senior Vice President of Market Leadership. In this role, Chaluja is responsible for executing Guidewell Commercial Markets Local Strategies, overseeing Market Presidents in each region, Local Market Sales, and the Underwriting team. Chaluja is also accountable for establishing strategic direction and enabling local market strategies to drive business value. Chaluja also has accountabilities for organizational effectiveness and business performance across the Commercial Market segments.
Chaluja has more than 30 years of domestic and international experience in the health insurance industry. Prior to joining Florida Blue in 2007, Chaluja held various roles in underwriting, medical informatics, reinsurance, investigation fraud and Medicare risk adjustment. Chaluja began his career in Central America where he served as a statistician, and then moved back to the United States in 1998. Upon his return to the US, he served as a consultant for the Latin American region at Wakely & Associates.
Chaluja holds a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Columbus State University and has completed executive education programs at UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management as well as Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI) and is currently a Fellow for America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Executive Leadership Program.
Katia Medina is Vice President for the Central and Northeast Florida region at Prospera USA. Katia has been working at Prospera for more than nine years, in a variety of roles. She began her career with Prospera in 2014 as a Business Development consultant providing consulting services to Hispanic entrepreneurs. For the past few years, Katia has played a critical role in managing the operations of the Central Florida office overseeing services to nearly 2,000 clients per year and providing critical support for fundraising and community relations.
Furthermore, Katia has been at Prospera for critical transitions and spikes in demand including the arrival of thousands of Puerto Rican entrepreneurs after Hurricane Maria, the organization’s rebranding and its expansion to North Carolina and the COVID-19 pandemic. Katia is a seasoned and versatile professional, powered with substantial years of experience in initiating strategies essential to improving and strengthening work efficiencies as well as overall operations. She is extremely efficient with in-depth knowledge of managment functions within fast-paced, ever-changing environments and an expert at managing business development strategies.
AGENDA
