CAMINOS FINANCE Program
The Caminos Finance Program is a 10-week training offered in partnership with Madison College, the United Way HIRE Initiative and employer partners.
As a training participant, you will develop skills in the following areas:
- Customer Service 101
- Job Readiness (resume, cover letter, and interview skills)
- Digital Literacy
- Financial Literacy
- Hands-on Training
- Professional Development
- Civic Engagement
You will also connect with potential employers, gain employment and explore career opportunities in the finance sector.
Selected participants will receive a scholarship, case management, an ELL-supported Personal Finance 3-credit course at Madison College. The goal is to obtain the necessary skills to join a financial institution as Bilingual Customer Service Representative (banker/teller).
Contact information:
Caminos Finance Career Pathways Specialist
Irma Varela
irma@micentro.org
608-640-7949

Success Story: María Isabel
María Isabel is from Colombia, a mother of six, and an example of courage and resilience. She’s moved by the motto of “it’s never too late to start over.” Four years ago, she moved to Madison without knowing English. At the time, she was an architect with two years of experience in Colombia.
During her interview at Centro Hispano, she shared that she worked at a factory, Stoughton Trailers, where she learned a little bit of everything, and where she learned English. Centro Hispano remembered her story vividly because she mentioned she used to communicate with drawings and signs with her supervisor. But María Isabel was relentless, and not only learned English, but has also opened her own cleaning business and began driving for Uber.
In 2018, she learned about the Caminos Finance program through a flier at Madison College. At that time, she couldn’t join, but in the fall of 2019, she took the leap and enrolled in the next cohort. As the pandemic continued, María Isabel started doing Uber Eats as a way to keep providing for her family.
Witnessing Maria’s growth and confidence this year has been a fulfilling. María’s experience, charisma, resilience, and persistence to be better every day has taken her to where she is now. Even though it took some time for María to take the next step in her career and apply for a Customer Service Representative position, she decided to apply at Park Bank and was hired in August earning $15/hr. A month later, we received an email from María’s supervisor sharing the amazing work María was doing and that she was going to be trained to work on ITMs (Interactive Teller Machine).
We were beyond happy and excited for Maria as we knew what this meant for her, taking her confidence to the next level and being a role model for many. This is what María wrote to us in an email. “I’m very thankful for having the opportunity of being a graduate of Caminos Finance. Thanks to this opportunity, I’m growing professionally and the quality of life of family and mine is improving… just being with the best is that you can become your best and that’s what Caminos Finance is for me.”
María Isabel is from Colombia, a mother of six, and an example of courage and resilience. She’s moved by the motto of “it’s never too late to start over.” Four years ago, she moved to Madison without knowing English. At the time, she was an architect with two years of experience in Colombia.
During her interview at Centro Hispano, she shared that she worked at a factory, Stoughton Trailers, where she learned a little bit of everything, and where she learned English. Centro Hispano remembered her story vividly because she mentioned she used to communicate with drawings and signs with her supervisor. But María Isabel was relentless, and not only learned English, but has also opened her own cleaning business and began driving for Uber.
In 2018, she learned about the Caminos Finance program through a flier at Madison College. At that time, she couldn’t join, but in the fall of 2019, she took the leap and enrolled in the next cohort. As the pandemic continued, María Isabel started doing Uber Eats as a way to keep providing for her family.
Witnessing Maria’s growth and confidence this year has been a fulfilling. María’s experience, charisma, resilience, and persistence to be better every day has taken her to where she is now. Even though it took some time for María to take the next step in her career and apply for a Customer Service Representative position, she decided to apply at Park Bank and was hired in August earning $15/hr. A month later, we received an email from María’s supervisor sharing the amazing work María was doing and that she was going to be trained to work on ITMs (Interactive Teller Machine).
We were beyond happy and excited for Maria as we knew what this meant for her, taking her confidence to the next level and being a role model for many. This is what María wrote to us in an email. “I’m very thankful for having the opportunity of being a graduate of Caminos Finance. Thanks to this opportunity, I’m growing professionally and the quality of life of family and mine is improving… just being with the best is that you can become your best and that’s what Caminos Finance is for me.”