George Fernandez

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In 2014, George Fernandez left behind a successful career at Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield to launch
Latino Connection with no more than a broken laptop, a borrowed credit card from a friend and $250.
“I was truly just following a passion, and a need to fill a void in my community,” said Fernandez, who as CEO his core mission is a desire to enhance the health, education and welfare of America’s Latinos through marketing and communication services.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of lives have been reached, jobs created, communities made better and lifechanging relationships forged all through one decision made by one person to step toward a greater calling.
The impact of Fernandez and Latino Connection couldn’t have been more evident than when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020. The very first day President Trump announced the national state of emergency, Fernandez began to forge a strategic partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and leading community health organizations to ensure the Commonwealth’s underserved communities would be provided with essential resources and education during this unprecedented time. Through months of hard work and planning, the mobile response program CATE (Community-Accessible Testing & Education) was born. Since its launch, CATE has hosted more than 220 events across the Commonwealth, focused on reaching underserved, minority communities by providing essential COVID-19 resources including vaccines, tests, PPE and bilingual literature on COVID-19 vaccine education.
In less than two years, CATE has made major advances toward closing the gap on health disparities
in the face of a global pandemic. Looking to the future, Fernandez plans to lead CATE in partnering with Federally Qualified Health Centers and health systems to build trust and help overcome hesitancy in vulnerable communities.
“My unrelenting goal is to help people who look like me and speak my language, and help give them every opportunity to access resources and education that elevate their quality of life,” said Fernandez.