About: Omar Cuevas is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce; the second largest chamber in the State of Michigan. Omar oversees revenue generation for the organization and how the Chamber tells its story. Omar has a background in finance having an 18-year career in the financial industry; most of which were at Fifth Third Bank. He led financial literacy initiatives along with expanding the bank’s growth in West Michigan’s growing Latino population. As a member of the Grand Rapids Chamber executive team, he has influenced organizational priorities of inclusivity and belonging. Omar is part of the leadership team driving the work of the Kent County-City of Grand Rapids welcome plan in partnership with Gateways for Growth. His work is driven by the principle that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is the right thing to do. A community that embraces inclusion can increase innovation, acceptance and problem-solving capacity; which leads to a competitive advantage.

Omar has been recognized by the State of Michigan Hispanic Caucus as Hispanic Advocate of the Year and served on several boards including the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Literacy Center of West Michigan, the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan, the Community Inclusion Group/Kent County Convention and Arena Authority and most recently appointed to the Grand Rapids Promise Zone Authority which will pave the way to provide students a tuition-free path to a post-secondary education. Omar also teaches entrepreneurship through the Ferris State University Emprende program at the Hispanic Center, focused on Latino individuals looking to start a business.

Hobbies: In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his three children: Omar Jr., Ana, and Adrian.

Affiliation: Omar Cuevas has been affiliated with the Literacy Center since September 2017.