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Learn about the Home Advantage Program: Interview
A VISIT WITH RAÚL ARRIAGA & ROBERT NUÑEZ
The Team Behind the American Dream Home Advantage Program for Employers
Johanna Hoyos Matt Redden with Vitae Photography F. Izquierdo
ROBERT NUÑEZ was born in California, and grew up in Rio Bravo in Tamaulipas, Mexico until his family moved to South Texas. He moved to San Antonio to pursue banking while attending college. An opportunity arose at USAA, where his career journey began. He relocated to Dallas, graduating from University of Texas at Dallas, and now has nearly two decades of experience in the financing industry. Today, Robert is a residential mortgage loan originator and Guild Mortgage branch manager recognized for his effectiveness and dedication to securing highly competitive home mortgages for residential clients and investors.
Raúl Arriaga was also born in California, grew up in Mexico, and is the eighth child of nine siblings. Raúl originally planned to major in film and television. However, his sister (who was at the time in real estate) convinced him to pursue the profession. He attended Dallas College to pursue his Texas real estate license and has never looked back. Raúl loves to help people with fulfilling their dream of home ownership. Today, Raúl is a successful realtor in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, consistently ranked in the top 1%. With an international and local client base, Raúl is committed to helping people—from diplomats to immigrants— achieve the American dream of property ownership. Robert Nuñez bought his first home at 22 years of age. He was tired of renting, so decided it was time to buy a starter home for $90,000. When he first purchased a house while being a university student and working fulltime, he realized that he was not well-informed about the process. The process was confusing, and no one educated him about it. After seeing gaps, he wanted to change the home buying experience for others.
The American Dream Home Advantage Program:
Raúl and Robert spearhead the program aimed at providing companies a benefit for their employees. The American Dream Home Advantage Program is designed for buyers and sellers, so whatever the need of the employee, the program is there to support them and achieve the best outcome possible. Raúl and Robert provide guidance and advice to give home buyers and sellers confidence, ensuring they make good decisions based on their unique circumstances. Now more than ever, home buyers need guidance to navigate rising interest rates and appreciated markets.
ROBERT NUÑEZ
RAÚL ARRIAGA
The mission of the American Dream Home Advantage Program is to give employees expert resources and educate them on how to create wealth by investing and/or how to buy a home. In return, employees boost performance and increase loyalty to their employer.
How The American Dream Home
Advantage Helps Employees: The American Dream Home Advantage Program a onestop shop for all the employees’ needs, tailored to their life. The program can also refer employees to other services such as tax, financial and legal advice connecting them to CPAs, financial advisors and attorneys.
“A company's success is often determined by the satisfaction and success of its employees. In this competitive market, the American Dream Home Advantage Program is another tool employers can use to attract and retain quality employees,” said Robert Nuñez. “This program provides valuable resources to employees, demonstrating the company cares about their personal success.”
Raúl and Robert are helping employees achieve their American dream of owning a home while building wealth; increasing the companies’ employee retention, gaining loyalty, and improving productivity.
To learn more about The American Dream Home Advantage Program and provide this resource as a benefit to your employees, visit https://Raúlarriaga.com/ the-american-dream-home-program/
THE GEO GROUP:
A Diversified Employer Providing Leading Rehabilitation and Community Reentry Services with a Focus on Human Rights
The GEO Group F. Izquierdo
Diversified Employer
At GEO, we believe that diversity in our workforce and the inclusion of a variety of views, perspectives, and backgrounds are integral parts of our company's success. This unique mixture in the workforce provides unlimited ideas, increases productivity and innovative solutions for our clients and those we serve.
Today, women comprise an equal portion of GEO’s U.S. workforce and play a significant role in our leadership and management. Of GEO’s approximately 14,000 U.S. employees, 51% are female. Women account for 55% of our corporate employees, 41% of our facility security staff, and 28% of those serving in management positions as directors and above. We also continue to recruit women to our workforce, with women comprising 56% of GEO’s new hires in 2021.
Our employees around the globe live and work in the communities we call home. In this geographically diverse environment, we learn from each other and share those lessons within and outside our communities.
Rehabilitator of Lives
The award-winning GEO Continuum of Care® – an innovative and award-winning initiative we began in 2015 – provides enhanced in-custody rehabilitation programming, including cognitive behavioral treatment, integrated with post-release support services. This evidence-based treatment model begins with individualized risks and needs assessments and offers programs designed to address the specific needs of each participant based on their assessments.
As a good corporate citizen, we are committed to respecting the human rights and improving the lives of those entrusted to our care, including our enhanced rehabilitation programs and post-release support services through our award-winning GEO Continuum of Care® program. Despite the continued challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, our GEO Continuum of Care® programs completed approximately 2.8 million hours of enhanced rehabilitation programming in 2021.
Our academic programs also awarded more than 2,100 high school equivalency degrees, and our vocational courses awarded over 6,800 vocational training certifications. Our substance abuse treatment programs awarded more than 5,500 program completions, and we achieved over 38,000 behavioral program completions and more than 33,000 individual cognitive behavioral sessions. We also provided post-release support services to more than 4,500 individuals returning to their communities.
To our knowledge, the scope and substance of our award-winning GEO Continuum of Care program is unparalleled, and we believe it provides a proven successful model on how the 2.2 million people in the U.S. criminal justice system can be better served in changing their lives.
Human Rights Focused
As a company, GEO acknowledges the unique status of its operations as a service provider to governmental agencies, encompassing the management and operation of secure correctional and rehabilitation facilities, immigration processing centers, community reentry centers and programs, and electronic and location monitoring services.
Over the years, GEO has been committed to respecting the human rights of all individuals in our care, including ongoing efforts to drive continuous improvement in the following areas:
• Safe and Humane Environment • Access to Healthcare • Access to Legal Services • Access to Family/Friends Communications • Access to Religious Opportunities • Access to Safe and Nutritious Meals • Access to Recreational Amenities • Access to Rehabilitation Programs for State Inmates
As we continue to be committed to advancing our ESG goals throughout our organization, our Board of Directors committee structure has also been expanded to include a committee on Criminal Justice Rehabilitation and Human Rights.
Sources: GEO Group 2020 Human Rights and ESG Report; Continuum of Care Annual 2021 Report; The GEO Group Annual Report 2021
EDISON INTERNATIONAL’S COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY REFLECTED IN CORPORATE STRATEGY AND ALIGNMENT WITH CALIFORNIA CLIMATE GOALS
DEI INITIATIVES ARE FOUNDATIONAL TO ENSURE AN EQUITABLE TRANSITION TO A CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE
THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, a model for the rest of the country in addressing the climate crisis, has set a goal of net-zero emissions by 2045. Headquartered in the Golden State, Edison International and its subsidiaries are key enablers of the state’s goals, which have profound consequences for diverse communities, including the state’s more than 15 million Latinos.
“We are working to move the electric power industry - and ultimately the whole economy - toward a clean energy future,” says Edison International President and CEO Pedro J. Pizarro. “This includes making sure the transition remains reliable, affordable and equitable for Latino families and all diverse stakeholders.”
Edison International is the parent company of Southern California Edison, a utility that delivers electricity to 15 million people in Central, Coastal and Southern California, and Edison Energy, a global energy advisory firm. Latinos make up about 33% of SCE’s customers.
“DEI informs our priorities, our workplace culture, our philanthropic giving and our diverse supplier partnerships,” Pizarro added.
MICHAEL C. CAMUÑEZ
PEDRO J. PIZARRO
Underscoring this point, a number of the clean energy programs offered by SCE are designed in partnership with representatives from diverse communities and weighted toward helping those who need them most. Half of the electric vehicle chargers supported by the utility’s Charge Ready program will be in underserved communities and $4,000 rebates for pre-owned electric vehicles will be provided for income-qualified customers instead of the standard $1,000 rebate. Proposals for heat pump installations, electrical panel upgrades and energy efficiency programs also target these customers. Moreover, Edison Energy provides global energy and sustainability advisory, management and data reporting services for clients worldwide, including in Central and South America.
SCE also spent $2.4 billion (38% of total spending) with more than 620 diverse suppliers, and 80% of Edison International’s $20 million in philanthropic giving in 2021 supported diverse organizations.
“DEI is a top priority for our board and is embedded in our overall corporate strategy,” says Edison International board member Michael Camuñez, president and CEO of Monarch Global Strategies.
The board’s oversight of the company’s people and culture includes review of DEI data including representation, pay equity and employee sentiment. By sharing data and being transparent, the company is in a position to make more meaningful change.
“While we have a good representation of Latinos among our lineworkers, I would like to see us continue to increase Latino representation in our leadership ranks,” Pizarro says. “We utilize diverse candidate pools and diverse interview panels to make sure that we’re giving every opportunity to move as quickly as possible in that direction. We are fully committed to advancing more diverse candidates, including Latinos, into our leadership ranks.”
At the board level, eight of Edison International’s 11 board members are diverse in terms of gender, race, ethnicity and/or LGBTQ+ identification. The board has gender parity among the 10 independent directors.
Edison International publicly shares its findings and released its first major DEI report in August 2020, with annual updates since then.
“A commitment to diversity starts at the top, and I’m proud that we are one of the few Fortune 250 companies with a Latino CEO, two Latino board members, an African American board chair and a leadership team that looks like the communities we serve,” Camuñez concludes. “Our commitment is reflected in the policies and the numbers that Edison has achieved. There's more to be done, for sure, yet I feel really good about the trajectory that we're on.”
