Inclusion

BBVA in Colombia granted 3.8 billion pesos in sustainable lending between January and August 2023, with $2.4 billion going to inclusive growth projects and $1.4 billion for climate action pursuits. These figures are already up on last year’s total figure and 66% higher than in August 2022.

BBVA in Colombia and Bancamía, an entity of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation, have announced that the Transforming Realities Scholarship will widen its scope and, starting this year, will support 100 vulnerable young people in the country so that they can pursue university studies. This initiative benefits the children of Bancamía's micro-business customers throughout the country. In its three previous editions, it has benefited 21 young people from different departments of Colombia.

With the aim of incentivizing the financial inclusion of senior citizens and creating a personalized user experience, BBVA Mexico is joining the so-called Comisión Nacional para la Protección y Defensa de los Usuarios de Servicios Financieros (National Commission for the Protection and Defense of Financial Services Users, or CONDUSEF) to adjust its policies, procedures, products and services so that customers can have better interactions with the bank and better management of their finances.

Garanti BBVA makes it a top priority to make life easier for customers, including people with disabilities. That is why the bank now provides hearing-impaired customers with fast, user-friendly access to a live support assistant over its mobile app.

The BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF) is the first private institution in the world to implement Oxford University's Multidimensional Poverty Index to analyze the condition of the 2.8 million people it supports in five Latin American countries. This indicator gives a better understanding of the gaps in education, health and housing faced by these entrepreneurs' households and enables designing value propositions to improve their living standards.

The pandemic proved to be the turning-point for her to take the most important step of her life. Not without fear, Alicia García began a gender transition process to "not have to hide my identity and be able to be myself." This was a personal journey with an impact on her work environment. Although a lot less than expected.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila announced today at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos that BBVA and the Edison Alliance are joining forces with the BBVA Microfinance Foundation's commitment to contribute to the digital inclusion of vulnerable populations in Latin America.

Turkey recently held its women's wheelchair basketball championship which took place in Hatay this year. As part of its social commitment, Garanti BBVA has been supporting this sport´s men's and women's teams since 2013.

In order to help alleviate the effects of COVID-19 on the most vulnerable, BBVA will make a charitable contribution in Spain in replacement of the traditional gift given to shareholders for the Annual General Meeting. It will be the shareholders who vote on which of four causes they prefer for the donation from this gift: social inclusion, education, health and people with disabilities.

Garanti BBVA has been included in Bloomberg’s Gender Equality Index - a recognition it received thanks to its internal equality policies, the benefits it provides its customers and its successful efforts through its entire value chain.

This Friday, BBVA chairman Carlos Torres Vila participated in the Institute of International Finance’s (IIF) annual meeting, in which he underscored banks’ role in channeling investments from the Next Generation EU recovery plan. “Banks can play a key role in channeling and multiplying European public funds,” he noted.  “What is really important to ensure the most effective use of European funds is to increase the multiplier effect through the private sector, including the banks.” He also indicated that emerging markets could be the most interesting for sustainable investments. "What we need are mechanisms in carbon markets to channel the funds to these countries so that the impact over time is mitigated while promoting the development of poor societies,” he said.

Head of U.S. Compliance Solutions Carolyn Veizaga leads BBVA USA’s Compliance team in the management and execution of global projects, relying on her more than 17 years of experience in financial services, project management, and consulting. We took a moment to get her perspective on motherhood, mentorship, and diversity as a female leader at BBVA.

There are more than 10,000 team members spread across BBVA USA’s footprint, each with a unique story to tell. Earlier this year, we introduced a new series to celebrate this rich diversity of experience: “Bringing Your Authentic Self to Work.” To recognize Hispanic Heritage Month, we spoke to seven BBVA team members about what they love about their Hispanic heritage and how it has contributed to who they are today. Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15-Oct. 15 in recognition of several Latin American independence days, recognizes and celebrates the contributions that people tracing their roots to Spain, Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Spanish-speaking countries of the Caribbean have made to American society and culture.

BBVA USA today announced the formation of its second Business Resource Group (BRG), this one in support of employees who identify as part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and supporting community. The announcement was made during the bank’s first LGBTQ Perspectives internal panel discussion, held virtually and including more than 300 bank employees.

The world of work and professional environments are in the midst of a full blown transformation process, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown. According to Ophelie Richard, BBVA global head of Talent Acquisition, "the value of assigning workstations to specific individuals based on their hierarchy within the organization has been completely redefined." And this, in her opinion, "opens up great opportunities, from hiring employees regardless of their geographic location to workstation virtualization.”

As Head of Client Engagement for BBVA USA Talent & Culture, Reba Simmons plays an important role in helping the bank create opportunities for its employees. Her team of Talent & Culture Business Partners provides consultative advice to bank leaders to help recruit, retain, and develop talent, with our values central to every action taken and recommendation given. We took a moment to get her perspective as a female leader at BBVA.

There are more than 10,000 team members spread across BBVA USA’s footprint, each with a unique story to tell. This year, we’re introducing a new series to celebrate this rich diversity of experience: “Bringing Your Authentic Self to Work.” When we bring our authentic selves to work, we connect with others in a genuine way that allows ourselves to be truly seen and boosts our engagement, productivity, and well-being. To kick the series off, we’re celebrating Black History Month with employees’ personal stories about their heritage.

BBVA’s Diversity and Inclusion program has developed a pilot project to help female employees advance in their careers. Through a dynamic known as “speed networking”, a group of female employees was able to expand their network of contacts at the bank and interact with a variety of different people with extensive experience and responsibility at the bank. This activity is part of BBVA’s plan to bridge the gender gap and break any possible glass ceilings that could get in the way of its female employees’ careers.

The groups of BBVA and JP Morgan employees created to foster diversity at the workplace held a joint session to work on some of the issues that concern staff the most in their professional development. Topics such as work-life balance, networking, leadership, and personal brands were discussed at the different working groups. Led by various mentors, employees from both companies discussed best practices, areas for improvement and team management trends.

Loners and freaks who are addicted to video games, love junk food, and inhabit basements: the computer programmer stereotype, propagated by the silver screen, is a serious setback when it comes to attracting talent into this field. And it is much worse when it comes to attracting female talent. In Spain in 2017, the rate of women between 20 and 29 years old, graduating  in science, mathematics, information technology, or engineering per 1,000 inhabitants was 13.1 percent.  The scarcity of female talent in this field can also be witnessed at hackathons, but there's good news: women are willing to put an end to these clichés.

Angélica Valbuen lives in Cundinamarca, Colombia. She is 39 years old, works in the fields. A situation that destines them to financial exclusion if it were not for the work of institutions like the BBVA Microfinance Foundation, which helps over 150,000 women in rural areas of Latin America.

BBVA recently completed its 49th investment in community development financial institutions (CDFIs), moving its total investment in the community catalysts to $100 million in the U.S. three months ahead of its five-year target.

Ízaro Amilibia, discipline manager at BBVA’s Talent and Culture area, attended the LGBTI Atlantic Conference held in Bilbao to explain the bank’s initiatives in this area. The event gathered activists and experts from across the world to discuss the international reality of this community. Supporting LGTBI people is one of the pillars of BBVA's commitment to diversity and inclusion.

"Be Yourself" is the recommendation BBVA employees have made to encourage workplace diversity. These are the first steps of an initiative that the working group – with a show of support from the bank's management – presented to the rest of the bank employees. The event also included a group of speakers who addressed the challenges and difficulties faced by LGBTI individuals. It was a day to celebrate, but also to remember that it is it is up to everyone to create a diverse and inclusive work environment.

The foundation, Inspiring Girls, and BBVA organized a stirring event where Tilly Lockey, the girl with bionic arms, and Gema Hassen-Bey a Paralympic fencing medalist, shared their personal testimonies of achievement and strength. The overarching message to the well-attended audience comprised mostly of girls and young people was: you can go wherever you want with conviction and effort.

June 28 is International LGBTI Pride Day. On this day, people around the world gather to celebrate the fight for equal rights and equal treatment for all individuals, regardless of their biological sex, their orientation, their sexual identity or their gender role. BBVA has joined the cause, illuminating for the first time its landmark La Vela high-rise, in its corporate headquarters in Madrid with the colors of the Pride flag. A symbolic gesture that the company is making while launching a campaign to raise awareness among its employees about LGBTI diversity at the workplace.