Connecticut Green Bank – Alyssa Quintero – 2024

SummaryTo improve the Connecticut Green Bank’s outreach to the Latino community, Alyssa developed a strategic engagement plan and recommended hiring a bilingual outreach member to build trust and strengthen connections with this key low-to-moderate income group.GoalsFounded in July 2011 as a state-level green bank, the Connecticut Green Bank plays a pivotal role in advancing the state’s energy strategy. As the organization looks to the future, it is actively shaping its vision for growth and development. The Green Bank envisions its outreach and engagement approach to “build trust and awareness within our community, particularly among its most vulnerable members, by strategically fostering strong, collaborative, and reciprocal relationships with stakeholders.”SolutionsTo achieve its goals, the Green Bank recognized the need to engage with the Latino community. However, with no Spanish speakers on their team, they lacked dedicated resources for this initiative. To address this, Alyssa developed a strategic engagement plan. She began by creating a GIS map to identify Latino hotspots across Connecticut and then focused on specific cities to pinpoint key organizations for potential partnerships. Alyssa recommended that the Green Bank hire a bilingual outreach team member fluent in both Spanish and English. This addition would support their efforts to connect with the largest ethnic group within Connecticut’s low-to-moderate-income population: Latinos.Potential ImpactBy hiring a Spanish-English bilingual outreach member, the Green Bank would be better positioned to connect with the Latino community, where 90% of individuals are classified as low-to-moderate income. This new team member would help build trust and awareness among this vulnerable population, ensuring that the Green Bank’s initiatives reach those who are most in need and strengthening overall outreach efforts.