Chris Cazares is, at heart, an evangelist, a man who cares deeply about the well-being of others. It plays out in his personal life as well as his professional life as a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) whose greatest joy is facilitating a process that leads to more people being helped. He’s steady and dependable, yet innovative too, and like many men of faith, grateful for the path he’s been on, but still hungry to invest his life in whatever God has for him.
Currently the vice president of client strategy and benefits innovation for Huntington Insurance (a division of Huntington Bank), Cazares was the youngest of 15 children, born to parents married in 1952. Because they were bi-racial, his parents needed to travel to Chicago to legally marry, but it was love at first sight, so they made the journey, returned to Indy, and became profoundly impactful parents. Eleven of his siblings went on to college, and some beyond that to grad school. Four of them have served in the U.S. military. All experienced love and faith at home, through good and hard seasons alike.
Those values are woven deeply into the fabric of Cazares’ life.
When he was in first grade, the family sold their Washington Township home and moved to the old northside due to his father’s layoff. Times were often hard and he remembers hearing his father cry out to the Lord for help, the appeal often followed by a confident, “God will provide!” He also remembers his mom singing through good and hard times and rejoicing over answered prayer. The gospel was prayer and music to young Cazares.
And, of course, God did provide. His father ended up in a fulfilling career at the physical plant of Butler University, and the family stayed in their home near 38th and East Fall Creek Parkway until after Chris graduated from Arsenal Tech High School.
Although the early transition was tough, it gave him a unique ability to relate to people from many different ethnicities and economic backgrounds, and there are close relationships with family and church friends that endure to this day.
“When I reflect over my parents' lives and the challenges we faced, if it wasn't for others in and out of our church community that helped along the way, it would be hard to imagine how things might have been,” he says, adding a line from an old gospel song that still means a lot to him: “If I'd never had a problem, I wouldn't know that God could solve them.”
Following several other siblings, he attended Indiana University, where he met the love of his life, Sarah, his freshman year. Due partially to a knack for sales, he began to enjoy and invest himself in work, completing his bachelor’s degree at IU and CEBS certification through Wharton School.
In many ways, Cazares hasn’t followed prescribed paths to success, but he sees the journey he’s been on as a testimony to God’s goodness. “I know what He’s brought me through. I wasn’t always comfortable, but He was always faithful,” he says.
He and Sarah have been married 27 years and have three children, Nadia (22), Sofia (20) and Isaac (17). They attend Trader’s Point Church in Carmel where they’ve lived since 2004.
As his children grow up and leave the nest, Cazares has turned to giving back: facilitating for Project Male Responsibility through the Center for Leadership Development, and volunteering with La Plaza, an organization that works for the academic success of Latino youth and families.
CAZARES’ IDEAS FOR A BETTER INDY
ASK GOD. Cazares says we can’t improve things around us in a lasting way without going to the source. "We need to seek God’s presence and make sure we’re hearing what God would have us do. Not our flesh. Not another human,” he says. “Trust Him even when things don't turn out as we planned. Keep trusting Him and see what He will do in you, with you and for you.”
GIVE BACK OUT OF WHAT YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN. “God has blessed us with different backgrounds, gifts and abilities. But what are we doing with what He has given us?” says Cazares. “What has God done for you that draws you to do for others? He gave me a solid foundation, rich in love and the presence of the Holy Spirit. That’s my story, and I feel compelled to try to give that same foundation to others.”
BREAK THROUGH BARRIERS TO GET PEOPLE TO JESUS. Cazares relates to the story from Luke where the paralyzed man has friends break through the roof to lower him into the room with Jesus. “That's it for me,” he says. “Breaking through the barriers to get people to see and know Jesus in my work and everywhere else. Does that mean I always get it right? No, but I press on.”
KEEP COMING TO C7. Cazares finds in C7 “an amazing connection point for Godly guys from various backgrounds to connect in ways we never would have, to learn from one another and discover things that stir the soul for the good of Indy in a way we might not have expected.”
CHRIS CAZARES TRIVIA
Favorite hobby besides work? Hiking, especially in the mountains of our western states
Go to snack and beverage? Kerns Guava Nectar on a hot day
Favorite restaurant, locally? The Garage Food Hall is a great place for a variety of wonderful food in a cool environment. Great options for Cuban, Venezuelan, Greek, Asian or American
Favorite place for a vacation? Hiking with my family in the Grand Teton National Park