Popular opened the exhibition "Somos Popular: gente que transforma" on Monday in the lobby of Popular Center, in Hato Rey, highlighting the community impact of the various programs run by its Social Commitment Division, through which the bank invested $13.5 million and 10,843 volunteer hours in 2025.
This first phase of the exhibition highlights the results of four main programs:
Finanzas en tus manos: promotes financial literacy at various life stages.
Programa de Ambiente: environmental conservation initiatives.
Emprende con Popular and ScaleUp Popular: to support business growth initiatives.
Fundación Banco Popular: focused on education and community development.
Why does it matter? This is one of the activities the bank is holding as part of its 133rd anniversary, which fell on Oct. 5. The goal is to show how the institution's commitment extends beyond banking and how employees take part in philanthropic activities.
"We are much more than a financial institution. We are a company with deep roots in Puerto Rico, with a sustained commitment and with the development of initiatives that create opportunities, strengthen communities and improve lives," said Jorge J. García, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Popular, Inc.
As part of the anniversary, the bank also gave away 3,000 small trees to customers at 45 branches in collaboration with Para la Naturaleza, held the volunteer event Día Abrazando a Nuestras Comunidades, and a bohemia by Fundación Banco Popular.
Finanzas en tus manos: 223 talleres, 9,776 personas impactadas, 42 educadores activos
Programa de Ambiente: 50,000 árboles sembrados, 20,806 mangles plantados, 263 colonias de coral impactadas, 14 sistemas solares instalados
Emprende con Popular y Scale-Up Popular: 501 empresas impactadas/organizaciones socias, 21 embajadores activos, $1.3 millones en subvenciones, incluyendo $300,000 en capital semilla
Fundación Banco Popular: 24% de participación voluntaria, 9,407 horas de voluntariado, 8 horas anuales de licencia pagada, $803,277 en contribuciones de empleados
Popular's philanthropic future
For García, who took over as president on Sept. 1, one of his priorities as CEO will be to continue supporting community impact initiatives, beyond the financing the bank can offer.
"There is a combination. It is not just a donation, but how we support those organizations with advice, with consulting, with our employees who give their time and volunteer with those organizations," he said.
One of the initiatives they revived was Día Abrazando a Nuestras Comunidades on Oct. 3, where about 800 employees took part to help some 30 nonprofit organizations.
Among them, the bank supported Banco de Alimentos. "In one day we were able to do what takes them 30 days, in terms of packing food for families facing food insecurity," García said.
The impact of Fundación Popular
For his part, Richard L. Carrión, chairman of the Board of Directors of Popular, Inc. and chairman of the Board of Trustees of Fundación Banco Popular, said the foundation and its more than 26 programs will continue to focus on education and community development while adapting to Puerto Rico's demographic shift toward an older population.
Among the initiatives tied to that shift, he highlighted "Cuidadora," through which caregivers are trained to care for older adults and given hands-on practice at Doctor's Center hospital, with the goal of helping them become entrepreneurs.
How to benefit your organization. "We work through two calls for applications that open annually, and we are very careful in choosing the organizations we support, because we receive donations from our employees that the company matches," said Beatriz M. Polhamus, manager of the Social Commitment Division and executive director of Fundación Popular.
The foundation invests in more than 70 nonprofit organizations annually.
Other programs at the foundation. The Rafael Carrión Jr. scholarship fund, the Premio a la Excelencia, and the coworking space inside the foundation's headquarters (where more than 30 nonprofit organizations work) are among the other initiatives the organization supports.
¿Cómo ve la economía de Puerto Rico en estos momentos? “No estamos viendo nada en nuestras carteras que nos preocupe. Nosotros le prestamos mucha atención al nivel de empleo en Puerto Rico. Vemos las tasas de desempleo todavía bien saludables, mucha participación. Sin embargo, entendemos que hay fuerzas de presión en Puerto Rico con la inflación, el costo del petróleo. Estamos viendo el aumento ahora que se hizo en el costo de electricidad. Así que son todas cosas que ponen presión al consumidor, al empresario pequeño. Es algo que vamos a estar vigilando”.
¿Qué es lo más que le entusiasma de la economía de Puerto Rico hoy? “La diversidad del cliente que está apostando en el futuro de Puerto Rico. Estamos viendo diversificación en la economía de Puerto Rico, con inversiones en manufactura, viendo el rebirth de compañías grandes anunciando proyectos importantes en Puerto Rico en pharma, biotech, el esfuerzo de atraer en la parte de aeronáutica y en Artificial Intelligence”.
¿Dónde ve las mayores oportunidades económicas para crecer en los próximos 5 a 10 años? “Son los mismos temas, por eso es que me entusiasmo en lo que estoy viendo, porque lo que queremos ver es salirnos de estar reliant (dependientes) en el dinero federal de reconstrucción. Eso es muy importante que lo usemos bien, que no dejemos que se agote un dólar de esos beneficios disponibles para nosotros, pero también es importante que estemos empezando a invertir en oportunidades a largo plazo y ahí donde vemos esos trabajos de manufactura, dónde vemos proyectos de hoteles, de turismo, de warehousing…”
Después de tantos años en la industria bancaria, ¿qué es lo que le sigue motivando de Puerto Rico? “Para mí, el calor puertorriqueño. Yo regresé a Puerto Rico hace 14 años, después de haber estado la mayoría de mi vida en Estados Unidos. Y cuando veo el compromiso que nuestros empleados tienen, el entusiasmo, cuando veo estos momentos de voluntarismo, hay un compromiso y un orgullo de Puerto Rico”.
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
