My father, Jorge R. Plasencia, was posthumously inducted alongside other trailblazers into the Cuban Banking Study Group’s Cuban Bankers Hall of Fame, a distinction that honors not only their careers but an entire generation of Cuban exiles who helped build modern Miami from the ground up.

He was born in Pinar del Río, part of the Plasencia tobacco family whose roots trace back to the Canary Islands, and his early life was shaped by family, hard work, humility and a deep sense of community.

After earning his accounting degree from the University of Havana and becoming a certified public accountant, he began his career at The Trust Company of Cuba, one of the island’s leading financial institutions.

When Fidel Castro seized Cuba’s banks, like so many others, he lost everything. He fled to Venezuela for a year, where he worked as an auditor for British American Tobacco, before moving alone to Houston to join a local bank. During those years apart from family, he wrote a letter to the CEO of Young & Rubicam, one of Madison Avenue’s legendary advertising agencies, offering his services as a bilingual collaborator. He never got the job, only a polite rejection letter, which he quietly kept for decades. After his passing, my mother found that letter among his papers.

In 1968, he arrived in Miami and joined Republic National Bank, where he helped pioneer what became known as “character loans.” These were loans made not on collateral or credit history, but on a person’s reputation in Cuba, their work ethic, and their word — palabra.

That belief changed lives. Those loans helped create small businesses, many of which went on to become major brands. They built an economy rooted not solely in wealth but in trust, and that trust became the lifeblood of a new Miami.

Today, my father’s story is featured at the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora as part of an exhibit honoring the Cuban exile experience, including the legacy of Republic National Bank, its leaders, and its character loans. Visitors can see his name and photograph, as well as the story of how trust became the currency that rebuilt lives.

When I began my own entrepreneurial journey nearly two decades ago, co-founding Republica, a marketing communications firm, we named it in homage to both my father and the bank that helped so many exiles rebuild their lives. Next year, as we celebrate its 20th anniversary, I’m reminded that our story, like his, is about building something greater than ourselves.

I had the privilege of carrying forward a part of his legacy when Adrienne Arsht, the Miami icon and then chairman of TotalBank, invited me to join its board of directors. “Now you can play a part in your dad’s legacy,” she told me. I remained on the board through its successful sale, an experience that reaffirmed how deeply character and trust still shape this city’s fabric.

Behind my desk hang two framed pieces that remind me of him every day. One is that rejection letter. The other is a Republic Bank ad featuring my father and one of his clients, with a headline that says, “Yo te agradezco tanto, Plasencia” — “I owe you so much, Plasencia.” Those words say everything.

Beyond banking, my father had great wit. He wrote “Pinceladas Criollas,” a book celebrating the humor, traditions and folklore of Cuban life, capturing the soul of a people whose laughter endured even through hardship.

His story, like so many of that pioneering generation, is a Miami story — about people who arrived with nothing and, through faith, resilience and hard work, transformed a small city once known mainly as a place to vacation or retire into a global crossroads.

As Miami continues to evolve, I hope we never forget the foundation laid by those early exiles. And now, with the reopening of the Freedom Tower, many of their stories will live forever.

They taught us that true prosperity begins with character. Because in the end, my father’s greatest investment was not in buildings or balance sheets. It was in people.

Jorge A. Plasencia is Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Republica Havas, Co-Founder and Chair Emeritus of Amigos For Kids, and Board Chair of the Miami Dade College Foundation. He is also a former Board Member of TotalBank.