Latinos in the Bay Area now have the opportunity to learn entrepreneurship in their preferred language, thanks to our partnership with The Latina Center in Richmond, and The Unity Council in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland.
Last month alone, 19 aspiring and current latino business owners in our community graduated from Centro's Basic Entrepreneurship Program led in association with these partners and using the Centro's Business Planning App - the first and only app that allows you to plan for a business and become eligible for a micro-loan of up to 10K through Kiva.org.
Many of these entrepreneurs are at the foundational stages of their businesses, even if they have been already operating for a while. Our goal is to point out what they are doing so well, and show them how to organize their energy around the areas they can easily improve upon and would make a big difference in the marketplace; says Elena Restrepo, Centro's Spanish Entrepreneurship Trainer & Program Associate.
The completion of the program is a big next step for these rising entrepreneurs. They finish our workshop with newfound inspiration, empowered with new knowledge, ideas, tools and a network of individuals who become supportive of one another in their shared aspirations of economic prosperity.
If you can read Spanish, you don't want to skip these encouraging participant testimonials. We wholeheartedly congratulate them and thank them for reminding us why we work with women, minority and underserved entrepreneurs every day.
“Como recién llegamos de Perú, pensábamos que el no saber inglés iba a ser una barrera para capacitarnos y montar nuestro negocio, con Centro nos dimos cuenta que no es así.”
“Yo pensaba que sabía mucho, pero cuanto tome el curso, me di cuenta de los errores que estaba cometiendo y cómo podía solucionarlos”
“Empecé el taller por recomendación de mi jefe pues ella lo tomó antes y quería mi opinion sobre el negocio. Ahora no solo aprendí más, sino que quiero montar mi propia empresa”
“Le voy a hacer una estatua a la profe en frente de mi negocio por que me salvó la vida con toda la información que nos dió para ser mejores!”
“Yo vine a tomar el curso con mis cuatro hermanas pero todas teníamos ideas diferentes. Después del taller, nos unimos para crear un restaurante Mexicano, pues entendimos que la unión hace la fuerza.”
“Tenia algo de temor con mi idea de negocio por que no sabia si era buena. En el taller pude poner mi producto a prueba y me di cuenta que estoy lista para iniciar!”