Xero, the global small business platform, announced the appointment of Jackeline Velez to Director, US Hispanic market, to support one of the fastest-growing language demographics in the US small business economy.
According to a report from the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, nearly 4.4 million Latino-owned businesses in the US generate more than $700 billion in revenue to the US economy. Furthermore, research from Stanford University revealed over the past 10 years, the number of Latino business owners in the US grew 34 percent.
“Xero revolutionized my firm by eliminating manual processes so I could quickly scale and operate more effectively,” said Jose Zavala, CEO and founder of ZTX Advisors, Xero Gold Partner and President of The LatinX Training Centers. “Latino-owned small businesses need trusted advisors to help them better understand their financials, save time and uncover new ways to grow. Xero empowers me to be a trusted advisor to my clients, and being able to help them cut down time spent managing the books so they can be with their families is especially rewarding.”
Jackeline will lead the US Hispanic team and oversee efforts in support of Hispanic small business owners in Xero communities across the United States. The team will focus on providing education materials to Hispanic accountants and bookkeepers so they can bring the benefits of cloud accounting to the Hispanic small businesses they work with. Xero will also provide resources such as product training, translated content and events to help them get started.
“Our human approach drives how we do business, and we are committed to partnering with accounting professionals in the Latino community to help find new ways to help their small business clients thrive,” said Jackeline Velez, Director, U.S. Hispanic Market, Xero. “Small business success is fundamentally about people, and it’s inspiring to see how the entrepreneurial spirit of the Latino community closely aligns with Xero’s values to innovate and solve challenges.”
Xero is hosting a variety of events to help the Hispanic advisor community get started with its cloud accounting platform, including:
- Xero Essentials: a monthly webinar for new or prospective Xero users to get to know the basics of Xero. Learn more and register here.
- ¿Qué es Xero? (Getting to Know Xero): a monthly opportunity for new or prospective Xero users that provides a big picture view of Xero as a platform and the benefits it brings to accountants and bookkeepers. Learn more and register here.
- Xero Advisor Certification: a quarterly advisor certification training taught in Spanish about how to use all the core features of Xero. Learn more and register here.
- Xero Latino Hour: a monthly opportunity for Xero accounting and bookkeeping partners to come together to discuss a topic with an expert or guest and share ideas and tips for how to best support clients. Learn more and register here.
Before joining Xero in 2016, Jackeline spent 10 years working in public accounting and industry at PwC, Flotek Industries and Schlumberger. She previously served as a Senior Account Manager in Xero’s Houston community. In this role, she led a team of four women—the only all-female sales team at Xero in the U.S.— that supports accountants and bookkeepers as they adopted digital technologies to transform the way they do business. In 2019, Jackeline was recognized by Practice Ignition as one of the Top 50 Women in Accounting.