Zoimé Álvarez Rubio

When Zoimé Álvarez Rubio became president and CEO of the Puerto Rico Bankers Association in 2023, she made history. She was the first woman to hold the position since the organization’s founding in 1967, and the first president who had not previously led one of its member banks. In fact, the association had to change its own governing rules to appoint her.

For Álvarez, it was an opportunity to show other women that leadership in finance could look different.

Born in Santurce and raised in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Álvarez is the daughter of Cuban exiles who rebuilt their lives on the island. She studied social sciences at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón before earning her law degree from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico. Her career took her through litigation, property administration, and public service, including an appointment as administrator of Puerto Rico's State Insurance Fund Corporation in 2009.

By 2015, she had become the first woman executive vice president of the Puerto Rico Bankers Association. Two years later, Hurricane María would put her leadership to test.

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With electricity and communications down, bank branches closed and residents struggling to access cash, Álvarez helped coordinate the banking industry’s emergency response. Financial institutions introduced 90-day payment relief on mortgages, credit cards, and other loans. The experience reinforced something she continues to emphasize: banking decisions have immediate consequences for families.

That perspective is behind all the work she does. In November 2025, the association partnered with Puerto Rico’s Department of Consumer Affairs on ¡No te dejes envolver!, an educational campaign aimed at helping consumers recognize scams so they can make more informed financial decisions during the holiday shopping season.

Álvarez has continued addressing the risks facing consumers and financial institutions. In fact, in February 2026, she brought the 22nd Puerto Rican Symposium of Anti-Money Laundering, with discussions covering cryptocurrency, cyberattacks, and financial crime. The following month, she joined a campaign to protect older adults from fraud, after reported losses in Puerto Rico reached $19 million.

Her advice was refreshingly practical: banks will never send someone to your home to collect a debit or credit card.

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In September, she brought that same message to the Puerto Rico Office of the Inspector General's podcast, explaining how fraudulent messages and requests for personal information can put consumers at risk.

Álvarez believes financial education should begin much earlier, advocating for it to become part of school curricula since preschool. She wants Puerto Ricans to understand money long before they encounter their first major financial decision.

For a woman who helped change the rules of one of Puerto Rico’s most established financial institutions, that ambition feels meaningful. Álvarez knows the value of opening doors, but she also wants people to have the knowledge and confidence to walk through them.