Latina of Influence | Leticia Aguilar

Community champion and Banking Executive Leticia Aguilar is one of Hispanic Lifestyle’s 2014 Latinas of Influence.  Follow all of our 2014 Latinas of Influence on twitter with the tag #HLTVLC14

Leticia Aguilar is an executive vice president and regional president for Union Bank, N.A.  One of Union Bank’s senior executives, Aguilar combines her passion for community building and her competitive business drive into a winning formula for success.  Aguilar has direct supervision over the bank’s retail divisions in Los Angeles and Central California.   She also serves as the Public Affairs executive for California, ensuring the bank is engaged with all of its constituents and communities across the state.

Always a champion for community involvement, a hallmark of Aguilar’s career is her commitment to giving back. Throughout her 40-year banking tenure, she has held leadership positions in numerous non-profit and community groups that focus on her three key areas of interest: education, health care and the arts. She has been a part of organizations such as the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute, where she served as chair.  She has also spent more than 20 years supporting the University of Southern California Mexican-American Alumni Association, which awards scholarships to promising students. She is currently a board member for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Southern California and American Heart Association of Los Angeles.

Leticia Aguilar

Aguilar has played a key role in Union Bank’s commitment to promoting financial education among today’s youth.  In the Central California region, the bank opened its first student-operated branch at McLane High School. Since its grand opening nearly three years ago, high school seniors have been given the opportunity to learn firsthand about money management. The project has proven to be a great success and Aguilar is currently overseeing the grand opening of two bank branches at Crenshaw High School and Lincoln High School.

Aguilar joined Union Bank in 2009.  Prior to Union Bank, she was a market president for Bank of America and oversaw the bank’s Greater Los Angeles and Central Valley markets.  She was the chief executive for the bank’s consumer market, responsible for managing all aspects of consumer and business banking.

Aguilar’s accomplishments have earned her frequent media attention and a long list of professional and community awards, including:  the 2012 Diversity Journal’s “Women Worth Watching” list; “Woman of the Year 2008” presented by the Anti-Defamation League and New Economics for Women; “Banker of the Year” presented by the Los Angeles Business Journal; and “Business Leader of the Year” presented by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.  She was also recognized as one of the most influential Hispanics in the U.S. by Hispanic Magazine and Poder Magazine.

Aguilar attended the University of La Verne and the University of Virginia, School of Retail Bank Management.