Jeremy Quintanilla sees a direct link between financial stability and community strength, yet he feels children don’t always learn about it in school. “Financial education is missing from the education system in Arizona,” says Quintanilla, a Wells Fargo regional business relationship manager in Phoenix.
“If students are better equipped to handle finances, they’ll make better decisions, which will lead to community stability.
Through his employer's partnership with United Way, Quintanilla has taught financial education to high school students through the Destination Graduation program and facilitated courses on credit basics to financial coaches throughout the valley, so people can better understand creditworthiness and how interest rates and terms impact payments.
He'd been volunteering with Valley of the Sun United Way for years but has been interested in nonprofits since graduate school. As it turns out, it’s helped him professionally as well. His work with United Way helped him develop leadership skills that made him stand out at the office.
“I don’t think I would have been promoted so quickly to branch manager if I hadn’t been so involved with supporting my community.”