Entrepreneur Success Coordinator
Celia joined the Prospera team in January 2024 as the Entrepreneur Success Coordinator. Originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Celia arrived in the U.S. at the age of 19 with the idea of achieving the American dream. She quickly realized that without preparation, it would be very difficult to achieve her goals. She began studying ESL during the day at San Jose City College and Evergreen Valley College and in the evenings at an adult school. In 2017, she earned her GED and graduated alongside her daughter, who graduated high school, and her son, who graduated middle school.
Through volunteering and work, Celia advocated for parents’ and students’ rights, literacy, housing rights, and justice and equity for immigrant communities. Her journey as an advocate began in 2008 with Sacred Heart Community Service, where she participated in programs for her young children. In 2010, she joined SOMOS Mayfair, where she focused on developing her leadership skills by working within her community and obtaining different certifications in facilitation and outreach. At the same time, she collaborated with the Bring Me a Book and Literacy Lab foundations, where she taught parents with preschoolers about the positive impact of starting early literacy. In 2017, she had the opportunity to be an owner/partner of a co-op with 20 other women called META, where she was the leader of the Wellness and Leadership Committee for two years.
In 2019, she co-founded a second co-op with 3 members called De Colores C. Consulting, in which she handled the co-op’s finance and marketing. After 4 years with De Colores C. Consulting, she left this project to pursue other opportunities but continues to support fair and solidarity economies through cooperative businesses, leading her to become part of Prospera.
She was elected as a Prospera Fellow with the 2020-2022 cohort and has been a member of the Latina Entrepreneur Resilience Fund Committee since 2020. She feels like she won the lottery by becoming part of Prospera because she admires their work and how they make their participants feel.
