Building Wealth Juntas: Turning Pay Equity Into Economic Power

Building Wealth Juntas: Turning Pay Equity Into Economic Power

For Latina professionals, economic empowerment is about more than earning a paycheck. It’s about having the knowledge, confidence, resources, and community to build lasting financial security.

Every year, Latina Equal Pay Day creates an opportunity to recognize the persistent pay disparities affecting Latinas in the workforce and to ask a bigger question: What happens when we move beyond talking about the wage gap and start talking about wealth?

That question is at the heart of HACE’s 2026 Latina Equal Pay Day programming, Building Wealth Juntas Series, this October 5 to October 9.

HACE brought together voices connected to this year’s programming to begin exploring what it means for Latinas to take an active role in their financial futures. The conversation serves as a reminder that economic empowerment is not simply about negotiating a higher salary. It is also about understanding how income, saving, investing, credit, entrepreneurship, and financial decision-making can work together to create long-term opportunity.

The Conversation Around Pay Equity Has to Grow

Pay equity remains an important part of the economic conversation.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the second quarter of 2026, Hispanic women working full time had median weekly earnings of $902, compared with $1,080 for Hispanic men. (See data source here). These figures are broad workforce statistics and do not explain every individual's experience, but they demonstrate why conversations about compensation and economic opportunity remain relevant.

But a paycheck is only one piece of the picture.

Two professionals can earn the same salary and have very different financial outcomes depending on their access to financial education, debt, savings, investments, homeownership, business ownership, retirement planning, and other forms of wealth-building.

That is why the conversation needs to expand from equal pay to economic power.

From Earning More to Building More

For many professionals, financial conversations begin with salary.

How much are you making?
Are you being paid fairly?
When should you ask for a raise?
How do you negotiate your next offer?

These questions matter. But building financial security requires going further.

What are you doing with the income you earn?

How are you preparing for the future?

Do you understand your credit?

Are you building an emergency fund?

Are you investing?

Are you thinking about retirement?

If you are an entrepreneur, are you separating your personal and business finances?

And perhaps most importantly: Do you feel confident making financial decisions?

Financial empowerment means having the knowledge and tools to ask these questions and the confidence to act on the answers.

Why Building Wealth Juntas Matters

The word juntas is intentional. Building wealth does not have to be an individual journey.

For many Latinas, conversations about money can be influenced by family experiences, cultural expectations, access to information, and the financial realities of previous generations. Sometimes, important financial topics simply were not discussed openly.

That creates an opportunity for us to change the conversation. We can ask questions together, we can share resources, we can learn from professionals and from one another.

And we can create a culture where understanding money is not intimidating but empowering.

Building wealth juntas means recognizing that knowledge becomes even more powerful when it is shared.

Wealth Building Is Not One-Size-Fits-All

There is no single definition of financial success. For one person, building wealth may mean paying down debt. For another, it may mean purchasing a first home, investing for retirement, starting a business, creating an emergency fund, or becoming the first person in their family to establish a meaningful financial safety net.

That can start with small steps:

Know your numbers.
Understand your income, expenses, debt, savings, and financial priorities.

Ask questions.
If you do not understand an investment, benefit, financial product, or workplace compensation package, seek information from qualified professionals.

Talk about money.
Create space for honest conversations with trusted friends, family members, mentors, and colleagues.

Advocate for yourself.
Understanding your value at work can help you participate more confidently in conversations about compensation and career growth.

Think beyond today.
Financial decisions can have long-term consequences. Consider how today's choices can contribute to the future you want to create.

Build community.
You do not have to have every answer before beginning. Learning alongside others can make the process more accessible and less intimidating.

From Awareness to Action

Latina Equal Pay Day is an important moment to recognize the realities of pay inequity. But awareness is only the beginning, the larger opportunity is to turn awareness into action. That means creating more conversations around financial literacy. It means making financial education more accessible. It means encouraging women to advocate for themselves professionally. And it means creating communities where people can exchange knowledge and resources without judgment.

Let's Keep Building Wealth Juntas

This Latina Equal Pay Day, HACE invites our community to move the conversation forward, from pay equity to economic opportunity, from earning to building, and from navigating financial decisions alone to building wealth juntas.

Because when we share knowledge, open doors, and create opportunities for one another, we strengthen not only individual financial futures, but the communities and generations that come after us.

Join HACE for Building Wealth Juntas Series and continue the conversation around Latina economic empowerment, financial confidence, and building a stronger financial future.

Register for the Latina Equal Pay Day event →