Hispanic Heritage Month Spotlight

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Perspectives: What Hispanic Heritage Month Means to Me


Synovus’ team members are passionate about their Hispanic and Latino heritage. Hear team members share what Hispanic Heritage Month means to them, how they plan to celebrate, and how our Hispanic and Latino employee resource group, Aquí Nos, supports them.

Isoldy Guzman,
Retail Market Manager
Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL

Born and raised in the Dominican Republic (“La tierra de el merengue!”), Isoldy Guzman plans on celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by “attending local events throughout our community,” she says. “This year, we will be hosting a volunteer event alongside Here Matters by donating our time at the local Feeding South Florida warehouse.” In addition, she celebrates her heritage every day by speaking Spanish to her kids, cooking Dominican food, and more. “I want to make sure they know the benefits of being multicultural,” she says. For her, Aquí Nos has been a great partner “by being open and welcoming with everyone that wants to be a part of the group, regardless of their background.”

Julio Roque,
Manager, Private Wealth Management
Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL

For Julio Roque, Aquí Nos “allows us to learn about the diversity within our various Hispanic cultures as well as look at what Synovus is doing to grow our Hispanic diversity within leadership,” he says. He “lives and breathes” his Puerto Rican culture, so it’s only natural to him that it is worked into his daily working life with Aquí Nos. While COVID has changed his Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations to be more personal with just family and friends, he usually loves attending “Hispanic events and festivals during the month to celebrate our multiple, diverse Hispanic cultures, eat traditional foods, and dance.” He says, “Observing Hispanic Heritage Month allows our country and Synovus to show its recognition and support for the work Latinos are doing in helping this country and business grow. Along with recognizing the importance of Hispanic Heritage Month, it is equally important to us in Aquí Nos that we raise awareness on resources available to our Hispanic community.”

Rudy Sosa-Febo,
Retail Market Manager
Winter Park, FL

Rudy Sosa-Febo is proud of her Puerto Rican heritage. “We are also called Boricuas,” she says, which means a person born in Puerto Rico or of Puerto Rican descent. She has exciting plans to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, including enjoying food from several Hispanic cultures, not just her own. “Peruvian, Colombian, Dominican…There is a local Puerto Rican restaurant [nearby] in Orlando called Pal Campo that everyone must visit,” she says. “It definitely feels like you are visiting one of the restaurants in the Enchantment Island, what Puerto Rico is called,” she says. Rudy also enjoys traveling to different countries especially “Latino” to learn and appreciate more about their culture, food, music, nature, people and festive holidays. She also loves to listen to the local Hispanic radio station on her way to work. “In addition to getting energized by listening to a variety of Hispanic genre music before getting to the office, I like to learn about what’s happening in the Central Florida Hispanic community,” she says. She teaches her 4-year-old daughter her roots by speaking Spanish and, of course, feeding her Puerto Rican and Dominican food as her daughter is half Dominican.

She’s grateful for Aquí Nos. “It recognizes, educates, supports, and celebrates our Hispanic ethnic background in every meeting they host with pride, spirit, education, joy, and fun.” She loves that Synovus developed the employee resource group to “promote inclusion, diversity, and cultural awareness within our footprint.”