Dear community,
So much has happened during this first half of 2026. We continue walking alongside women entrepreneurs to build businesses and cooperatives, expanding our programs and weaving alliances to reach more communities, while also building community, caring for our wellbeing, and celebrating every achievement together.
Here are 10 moments that fill our hearts.
1. A packed house for the Women’s Day commemoration. It was a very special event with the launch of Monólogos de Mujeres 360 (Women’s Monologues 360), where stories of migration, leadership, and resilience were shared, and we celebrated the first “Chingona Giving Circle” awards. A night of collective power, inspiration, and recognition for the women who sustain their communities.
2. The Acompaña y Vuela program welcomed its newest members. Guadalupe Yolanda Serrano Flores, with Dolci Delizie Yoli Bakery, her home-based bakery, and Nuris Martínez, with Mecha y Cera, her handmade candle business.
3. Vuela took off with new Fellows. We launched a new call for applications and welcomed new entrepreneurs into the Vuela program, ready to take their businesses to the next level. Angelina Marcos with Oaxaca To Go, delicious products from her beloved Oaxaca, and Glenda Solano with Magic Hands Eco Cleaning, cleaning services in the East Bay.
4. The Prospera Red de Graduadas (Graduates Network) was born: a living community of entrepreneurs who have gone through our programs and now support, learn, and grow with one another. More than a contact network, it’s a co-creation system where those who’ve already walked the path share what they’ve learned and accompany those coming up behind them.
5. Great news! We received a grant from NEO Philanthropy that allows us to launch a research project to strengthen the impact analysis of our programs and document our cooperative educational model. Read the article here.
6. The Randi-Randi Fund got underway. Our community capital revolving fund granted its first loans to four women entrepreneurs. For all of them, it’s their first time accessing a loan — they never imagined this kind of financial resource could be possible for them. It’s a big step, capital with heart, decided in community. Excited for what’s coming!
7. Comunidades Prospera keeps growing. We’ve brought intensive courses from our programs to partner organizations like Órale, El Concilio, Visión y Compromiso, SOMOS Mayfair, and the ALFA cooperative, in different parts of California, sowing the cooperative model beyond our home in Oakland. We want to thank the funders of these programs for making these partnerships possible: Capital Impact Partners and Latino Community Foundation.
8. Prospera at the California Center for Cooperative Development (CCCD). We traveled to Los Angeles, where coming together with partner organizations and the cooperative community was very inspiring: together we reaffirmed that regenerative, dignified, and sustainable economies are already a growing reality. We facilitated two workshops sharing our “incubation with heart” model: “The Triangle of Cooperative Wellbeing,” on how to balance care for the individual, the collective, and the organization, and “Popular Education Never Goes Out of Style,” on creating fairer learning spaces.
9. Claudia Arroyo began her well-deserved sabbatical. Our Executive Director was selected for a sabbatical thanks to Latino Community Foundation and, after months of preparation, is now disconnecting and taking care of herself. The team and shared leadership are carrying Prospera’s leadership with responsibility and a lot of love during her absence. Enjoy, Claudia!
10. Chingonas Giving Circle. The circle keeps growing: we’re now 30 chingonas supporting more women entrepreneurs. If you’d like to join, or know someone who would, join here and let’s keep helping dreams grow.
Want more? You can read our blogs from these past months here.
