Hispanic & Latine Personal Finance Content Creators
Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated in the U.S. from September 15 through October 15. Initially started to honor Hispanic folks in the U.S., many in the Latine* community have shared that this month is really meant to honor cultures and contributions of both Hispanic and Latine Americans, by looking to the diverse heritage of those with Latin American roots. The term “Hispanic” typically excludes non-Spanish speakers in Latin and Caribbean America, so Latine has been added, to include better a diverse group of people in this celebratory month.
I wanted to use this time to amplify the work of those in the Hispanic and Latine personal finance communities. Not only do these creators provide empathy-rich personal finance information, but they also have a way of showing up fully in their content, coaching, and other services.
Ana Romero // Brewing Dinero
Ana and Jeremy are the creators of Brewing Dinero. They are a married couple on the path to financial independence. They are the “first” in many things: first-generation immigrants from Mexico, first-generation college and graduate students, and the first in their families to have the privilege of accessing and utilizing financial literacy to build generational wealth. Their journeys have taught them the importance of financial education and the need to continue spreading this knowledge among BIPOC and mixed immigration status communities. Through Brewing Dinero, they help others eliminate financial stress by becoming debt-free & building an emergency fund. Additionally, Ana is a practicing psychologist, so I hold a special place in my heart for her and all other mental health professionals who are willing to talk about money!
Lea Landaverde // The Riqueza Collective
Lea, also known as the Latina Wealth Activist, is a Queer, First-Generation Salvadoreña, Financial Professional and Content Creator. She was born and raised in Utah and is now based in Dallas, Texas. Lea founded The Riqueza Collective, a holistic financial coaching practice for Women of color, and is the Podcast host of Mi Riqueza Podcast, a podcast redefining how we view wealth. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and a Master’s degree in Finance and Information Systems. She started working in the financial industry at the age of 17 and has experience in wealth management, investment banking to financial literacy education. Additionally, she’s a part-time Finance Professor at Utah Tech University, teaching personal finance to incarcerated youth in the state of Utah. Lea stands and advocates for equitable rights for Immigrants, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and mental health awareness. I adore how Lea translates (see what I did there?) complicated financial topics into digestible bites!
Kara Perez // Bravely Go
Kara Perez founded Bravely Go, an award-winning international financial education company. After graduating in 2011 with $25,302 in debt and no job, she moved to Austin Texas where she waited tables for three years, living on less than $19,000 a year. After some frantic Googling, she started a blog to chronicle paying off her student loans on a low income. Kara paid off her final $18,000 in 10 months while earning about $22,916 for the year. Kara founded Bravely Go to be the community she didn't have: women, talking real numbers while making big financial changes. Bravely helps women build wealth and take financial power. Kara’s transparency and willingness to talk all things money, plus politics and pop culture, make her a delight to follow! Personally, I love that we are both childfree—having Kara be vocal about that part of her identity helps me feel seen!
Maribel // Our Wealth Matters
Maribel is the first-gen daughter of Mexican indigenous immigrants and the founder of “Our Wealth Matters.” She’s a personal finance coach focused on servicing the U.S. immigrant community because she learned firsthand what could happen if the breadwinner in a family was deported. Now, she helps immigrant families and women build their wealth. She combines her experience in corporate finance, a degree in international business, and a certificate as an income tax professional. Maribel is determined to help those who want help knowing where to begin, especially if they are undocumented, DACA recipients, or first-generation U.S. citizens. I have deep respect for Maribel for being open and audacious in talking about and to this demographic that honestly gets left out of so many personal finance conversations. We collaborated on a Reel about the difference between a financial coach and a financial therapist, and she was gracious enough to let me attempt to use my Spanish skills. I was SO nervous about recording in Spanish, and it reminded me that even if my accent is off or I feel uncomfortable, so many folks are only being given content in their non-native language, and it’s imperative that we do what we can to make information accessible.
Stefanie Gonzales // Women’s Wealth Effect
Stefanie Gonzales is a global business leader, speaker, investing coach, and debt-free millionaire living abroad in Portugal with her family of 4! She left a 15-year supply chain career at one of the global top 3 technology companies in April 2022 to help women harness their limitless potential via investing for LIFE independence! By getting intentional with her and her husband’s money, they built their first $100k in net worth in 2018, paid off $420k in debt in 2021, and became millionaires in 2021. Stefanie now gets to truly live life on her terms. Stefanie now teaches others to intentionally take care of their money so they can live their lives the way they want. Stefanie’s excitement about helping others achieve life independence is palpable!
Rita Soledad // Wealth Para Todos
Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino is a Queer Mexican-American, former math teacher turned self-care & money coach. As the CEO of Wealth Para Todos Soledad is determined to make sure more BIPOC, women, and LGBTQ+ folk learn how to self-care themselves to financial independence so they can work because they want to, not because they have to. Through their coaching programs, weekly newsletter, and engaging social media content on Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn, they teach people how to create and follow a financial plan that prioritizes self-care and puts them on track to becoming work-optional. While I love everything Soledad touches, I’m particularly fond of the behind-the-scenes stories she shares on Instagram that help me feel a little less alone about the human side of life!
Diana Yáñez // All The Colors
Diana Yáñez is a money coach at All the Colors and a wealth manager at Strategy Squad. She is a CFP™, Registered Life Planner™ and trained in Gabor Maté’s Compassionate Inquiry™. As an individual and group coach, Diana helps change makers create stable and sustainable money systems for themselves, their loved ones, and their communities, focusing on women of color entrepreneurs. Through Strategy Squad, she supports impact investors in aligning their values and investments. While her technical skills help clients quickly navigate financial decisions, it’s Diana’s ability to empower them that transforms their relationship with money. As a Quaker and social activist, Diana loves learning about generative economics that moves us from exploiting resources to stewarding our shared planet. Diana’s passion for helping people see the beauty in holistic financial life planning is amazing, and I love seeing Mexico City through her eyes on Instagram.
Athena Lent // Money Smart Latina
Athena, the founder of Money Smart Latina and author of Budgeting for Dummies, draws from her personal experience as a Latina who faced medical debt following cancer treatment (hi, broken healthcare system). In one of her first jobs as a program coordinator at a Title I University, she learned that her students didn’t know that others didn’t rely on food stamps. That experience lit a fire within her to become a vocal advocate for helping folks who looked like her understand the world of money. Athena and I met at FinCon 2022 and have stayed in touch online, and she’s been gracious enough to interview me for BuzzFeed and Slate! In addition to all she does to help empower folks in her community, she’s a loving cat momma.
Yanely Espinal // Miss Be Helpful
Yanely Espinal is a Brooklyn native on a mission to help young people learn about personal finance in a fun and engaging way. She’s paired her love for teaching with her passion of financial literacy, helping people understand budgeting, credit, saving, and investing. Yanely recently published her first book (I have a feeling there’s more to come!) Mind Your Money, which doesn’t talk AT you, it shows you how money works through story form. In addition to being an author and content creator, she’s also the director of educational outreach for Next Gen Personal Finance, a nonprofit working to ensure that every high school student gets a full semester of personal finance education. I have such deep admiration for the way she frames financial literacy education as a social justice issue! [Also—I had a VERY OMG moment when we connected in a bathroom at FinCon; you never know when you’ll meet your heroines!]
* “Latine” is the preferred gender-inclusive term over “Latinx.” Latine can be used to refer to anyone, inclusive of their gender identity and expression, while naturally fitting into Spanish pronounciation. For more reading on the term “Latine,” click here!