Community Spotlight: Supporting Representation in Finance
March 29th, 2021
Community Spotlight: A series highlighting Aspire to Her community members and their experiences early in their careers.
Who we’re featuring this week: Valerie Aguilar Dellisanti
Position: Vice-President of Outreach @ Hispanic Capital Group - Brown University
You helped launch the Hispanic Capital Group which aims to increase hispanic representation within the finance industry. Can you share more about your experience starting this organization and why you became involved?
Last summer and this past semester, I participated in multiple diversity programs in finance and was part of the Activus Private Equity Fellowship, where I met Nicolas, our CEO and Anna, another member of the E-Board. It was the realization that Latinos were the least represented group in finance with only 9% of entry-level positions. We all have one goal - increasing the representation of latinos in finance. The Hispanic Capital Group was created as an intercollegiate student-run non profit hedge-fund with the aim to educate Hispanic students in the field of finance through an actively managed portfolio and educational opportunities. Our first cohort of analysts and portfolio managers has already started with the program and we are more than excited to see what will come in the next few months.
As the Vice President of Outreach, my main responsibility is to lead the partnership and sponsorship strategy of the organization. We already have our first partner, Fidelity and our goal is to increase Hispanic representation in the financial services industry by 33% by 2033. I aim to contribute with my grain of sand by helping the new generation of leaders who in turn can inspire and open the door to others around them.
What is your advice for college students interested in starting their own organizations?
Just try it! I think that us young people have a really powerful drive and entrepreneurial spirit that should be used! I think that starting an organization is about try and miss. As long as you are being careful of your resources and organize your time correctly, it is possible to get it going. Just evaluate your market first and have a rough draft of a plan and go for it.
What is your advice for college students who are pursuing roles in industries where they are part of an underrepresented group?
That is something that I faced when I first became interested in finance. I was born and raised in Lima, Peru and I had no idea how the finance world worked here in the U.S.. That is the case for many students with diverse backgrounds and I believe that a crucial part were the very few people that I could identify with. Connecting with other students and people in the industry that have a connection to your background is great, because there are so few of us that it is possible to create a stronger bond. And again, similar to what I said before, just try to apply for new opportunities! There is always a chance of getting in :)
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