Jorge Herrera, 31

By Lorna Collier

Jorge Herrera grew up as the only child of a single,Mexican immigrant mother in Belvidere. Rosaura Herrera arrived in the United States with only the clothes on her back and worked at the same Marengo factory for the past 30 years.With no more than a middle-school education, she insisted her son go to college.

“Her famous words tome growing up, going back to my grade school days,were: ‘Do whatever you want in life…after you graduate from college,’ ” Herrera says.

Herrera followed his mother’s instructions, going first to Rock Valley College (where he co-founded the Association of Latin American Students) and then to Northern Illinois University. While at NIU, he interned at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and earned a senior leadership award. Today, Herrera is an assistant vice president with the commercial banking group at JPMorgan Chase Bank.

In his spare time, Herrera, a father of two, likes being a mentor, particularly within the Hispanic community.He is on the boards at La Voz Latina and Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and sometimes speaks to teens about careers in banking. When he tells teens that his job can mean an afternoon at a Cubs game entertaining clients and prospects, “that piques their interest,” he laughs.

He also cautions students that banking isn’t an eight-to-five job, telling them: “Your work ethic and teamwork is going to define how successful you want to be.”

“Jorge is an inspiration to our staff and to the Latino youth in our programs because he came from a humble background, worked hard to achieve his goals, made a solid contribution everywhere he went, and continues to contribute selflessly to the greater Rockford region,” says Patricia Gomez, executive director at La Voz Latina.