Meet The Woman Helping To Improve Financial Health On The Lower East Side

New Yorkers are facing unprecedented cost-of-living increases, according to a recent study by the Fund for the City of New York. For low- and mid-income families, these spikes in expenses can affect their ability to access affordable housing, healthcare, and education.

Wendy Velazquez, a native New Yorker and community manager at JPMorganChase, is helping residents navigate their finances and spur economic opportunities in the city. Across her Lower East Side community and all five boroughs, Velazquez hosts financial health seminars at her branch, small businesses, and local schools. She is one of the 150 community managers hired nationwide by JPMorganChase, dedicated to expanding access to financial health information, tools, and resources.

The role of a community manager isn’t just a job — it’s a calling. It’s about boosting awareness of financial health resources through open-to-public, interactive community programs. Velazquez and her colleagues help connect people with experts who can guide them on crucial topics like building a budget, understanding credit, investing wisely, starting a business, and achieving the dream of homeownership.

The Power Of Financial Health

For Velazquez, hosting financial health seminars in schools and businesses feels like a personal responsibility. As a daughter of immigrants, she grew up with hard-working parents who had few financial resources and rarely discussed money.

“Growing up, it was taboo to talk about money at home or anywhere else — it just wasn’t a conversation we had,” Velazquez says. “So I wasn’t exposed to the concept of ‘financial health’ until adulthood, and it took some time to wrap my head around it.”

Velazquez began to understand the power of financial health after high school when she landed a paid summer internship at JPMorganChase. There, she was exposed to a world of financial conversations and experiences that inspired her to help others through a career in banking.

She joined JPMorganChase during college as a teller and was eventually promoted to branch manager and is now a community manager. “When I started working in banking, I realized all my finance questions were valid and necessary,” she says.

One of her favorite duties as community manager is to help students understand the importance of starting their financial health journey early. Over the past two years, she’s visited nearly a dozen middle schools, high schools, and colleges to connect with more than 500 students — always meeting them on their terms.

“I think back to my time in high school and I put myself in their shoes,” she says. “And it’s, ‘Do I really want to sit through another lecture?’ So I look around the room and see what they’re into, what everyone’s wearing. I start pointing out these name brands, those sneakers. The workshop turns into a discussion where the students are engaged and learning.”

She knows the information she shares creates ripple effects that go beyond the young faces she sees in her seminars. “When you teach high school students about money,” she says, “they bring that knowledge home to their families. It can have a profound impact on the way a family manages their finances.”

It Starts With A Conversation

The Lower East Side is one of New York City’s most diverse neighborhoods, and Velazquez’s background helps her connect with local residents and businesses. She advises customers in English and Spanish, and often helps families and workers who have never had a bank account.

“Many of my customers remind me of my mom and dad,” she says. “We help them understand how banking works. We have so many individuals come to our workshops and say, ‘Where do I sign up? How do I do this?’”

Community branches are part of the bank’s ongoing effort to expand access to financial resources. In New York City, there are now 33, including two community centers — one in Harlem, one in the Bronx, and a third opening in Brooklyn this year. JPMorganChase’s community managers have hosted over 21,000 free financial health events nationwide since 2021, supporting more than 434,000 customers, community members, and employees.

Velazquez knows firsthand that conversations about finances can feel intimidating. When she started her internship with JPMorganChase years ago, she had a lot of questions too. Today, she’s on a mission to ensure that all members of her community understand that their financial questions are every bit as worthy, especially at a time when many New Yorkers need more help than ever to build a better life.

Learn more about how JPMorganChase is advancing financial health in New York City and across the country.

JPMorganChase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC ©2024 JPMorganChase & Co.