Tara Rodriguez - Nominee for Exceptional Leader Award - 2022 Campus Recruiting Choice Awards

Tara Rodriguez is the newly appointed US Head of Early Careers at HSBC Bank. Tara began her career with HSBC in 2013 as a Relationship Manager in New York. In 2018, Tara moved into the Program Management role, where she managed Commercial Banking Early Careers Programs and worked with the People Excellence team on Culture and Inclusion initiatives. She is an active member of Hispanic Latin Diversity Committee, Caribbean and Nurture Employee Resource Groups and is a US Well-being Group committee member. Tara has a passion for developing the banks' emerging talent while balancing her family life and career. Tara enjoys music, stand-up comedy, and dancing. She lives on Long Island with her husband and high school sweetheart, along with their two adorable but not-so-well-behaved daughters.

Career Highlight

Tara entered her role without experience in Recruitment or Management. She worked to curate a culture of open feedback, which allowed grads to feel comfortable speaking up and being authentic. While recruiting, Tara began to share her journey. She was raised in a town known for gang violence and worked throughout community college to pay for school. She eventually received her BA when she went into finance. While she struggled to "relate" with most of her colleagues, she maintained a determined work ethic she had all her life and became very successful at an international firm. Because Tara shared her story, she encouraged many students with non-traditional banking backgrounds to leap into finance, which created one of the most diverse cohorts globally.