News & Events
Claudia, our unstoppable leader!
By Alex Miranda
Dear Prospera friends and supporters,
On behalf of Prospera’s board of directors I’m delighted to share some exciting news at Prospera. As you may already know, this year, the board officially welcomes Claudia Arroyo as our new Co-Executive Director. Please join me in congratulating her! I’d like to tell you a little bit about Claudia and why we have chosen her to join Maria at the helm at this particular moment of Prospera’s life. Read more >>
#SomosProspera…¡Un Alto para Sanar y reconectar!
Por Claudia Arroyo
¿Qué pasa cuando rompemos con la inercia de la rutina? ¿Qué pasa cuando abrimos nuestros sentidos para conectar con nosotrxs mismxs? ¿Qué pasa cuando un grupo de mujeres latinas se miran, reconocen y abren sus horizontes? Inspiradas por estas preguntas las participantes de CRECE, nuestro programa avanzado de mujeres Latinas Cooperativistas se aventuró a tener su primer retiro anual con el apoyo de The San Francisco Foundation las mujeres lideraron la visualización, preparación, logística y facilitación de esta increíble primera experiencia. Leer más
#WeAreProspera
A Pause to Heal and Reconnect!
By Claudia Arroyo
What happens when we break out of the routine? What happens when we open our minds and connect with ourselves? What happens when a group of Latina women find each other, come together and open up to new possibilities? Inspired by these questions, the participants from our CRECE program (an incubator program supporting the growth of cooperative businesses) ventured to have their first annual retreat. With the support of The San Francisco Foundation the women took charge of the visualization, logistics and facilitation of this incredible first experience. Read more >>
Prospera’s Third Summit for Latina Entrepreneurs “Health, Wellbeing and Entrepreneurship”
Berkeley– CA. Prospera together with Binational Health Week (BHW) and the Consulate General of Mexico in San Francisco are hosting the Third Summit for Latina Entrepreneurson Saturday, October 19, 2019 from 8:30 am to 5.30 pm atBerkeley Adult School. More than 150 Latina entrepreneurs from across the Bay Area are expected to attend the event. Read more >>
September 9th, 2019
Fearless Latina warriors
Prospera, for me, has been nothing short of an oasis. It has inculcated within me the spirit of a fearless Latina warrior, who will fight and worked hard for her dreams. Here, I know that I am not just a lone ranger, but my comadres have my back while I go out and venture into the wilderness.
In fact, just a few weeks ago, I was fortunate to have spent three days at Camp CEO with Girl Scouts of Northern California, reminiscent to me of my Girl Scouts days. Thanks to my mother’s sacrifice, she figured out how to get us involved in a handful of activities. Read more >>
July 29th, 2019
How entrepreneurs share our solitude
My name is Ana Castaño. I am one of the first 3 participants selected for Prospera’s new 2019 fellowship. I’m currently in the process of recruiting new business partners who can help me improve my business idea and plan, because up until now, even though it is based on my experience as a nanny and working with other nannies, this concept has mainly lived in my head,
My two fellowship colleagues and I have been part of this adventure for two months now, and let me just say, it’s been quite an adventure! Read more >>
July 17th, 2019
Be bold and spread the love by Maria Rogers Pascual
I am still feeling the big love that Masha, Jacqueline and their amazing team shared with us just last week at our second retreat of the Latino Community Foundation’s (LCF) non-profit accelerator. Prospera is one of the nine lucky organizations in their 2019 cohort that is at the center of LCF’s attention.
Thank you Masha for reminding us that what our world needs, now more than ever is for us to spread our love. Thank you Jacqueline for inspiring us to be bold. This is not the time to sit back and hold back. Read more >>
June 28th, 2019
Don’t Let Go…Speak Your Truth! By Claudia Arroyo
Dear Prospera Family,
Today we are taking a pause in our day to day lives to acknowledge the deep pain we are experiencing as a community of Latina immigrant women in this country. There is death, there is pain, there is grief in our community! The situation of immigrants in this country is intolerable and we refuse to stay silent and carry on as if nothing is happening.
Let us take a pause, stop, talk, yell, connect, march, do what we need to do to release our dismay about the horror that is taking place at the border. Read more >>
June 28th, 2019
No te Sueltes ¡Habla tu Verdad! Por Claudia Arroyo
Querida Familia Prosperadora,
Hoy con profundo dolor compartimos esta nota para hacer una pausa en nuestro caminar del día a día. ¡Hay muerte, hay dolor, hay duelo en nuestra comunidad! La situación migratoria en este país es intolerable y nos rehusamos a quedarnos en silencio y proceder como si aquí no pasara nada…Hagamos un alto, paremos, hablemos, gritemos, conectemos, marchemos, hagamos lo que necesitemos hacer para dar salida a esta consternación ante el horror de la Frontera. Read more >>
June 13th, 2019
For the Common God by Alex Miranda
My experience at Prospera has been incredibly enriching. As the Chair of the Board I have learned to connect different ideas from people and communities with diverse life experiences for a common good: our Latinx community.
I have explored my own humility knowing that some of us are born with privileges, or we have easy access to certain privileges, more than others, without attributing these privileges to our capacity. Read more >>
May 16th, 2019
Announcing Prospera’s New Entrepreneur Fellowship by Maria Rogers Pascual
Prospera Community Development is thrilled to announce the launch of a brand-new Fellowship – a unique, culturally focused program that accelerates the incubation of Latina-led cooperative businesses.
Prospera’s new Fellowship program is modeled after several prominent social impact fellowships that provide seed funding combined with comprehensive support to social entrepreneurs. What’s unique about Prospera’s new fellowship program is that it is dedicated exclusively to lifting up Latina immigrant entrepreneurs who are committed to the cooperative model. Read more >>
May 9th, 2019
Unity builds strength
by Claudia Arroyo
I am pleased to share that we have started a strategic alliance with Excelsior Works! (EW), a multicultural and multilingual workforce development center based in the Excelsior neighborhood in San Francisco, CA.
Last Thursday, April 18th, we visited the EW facilities and held a cooperative talk led by Kristina Molina from Producciones Arcoiris cooperative, Ana Castaño from The Nanny Collective, and Anahi Rojas, founding member of Professional Eco- Cleaningcooperative. Around 30 women from the Excelsior neighborhood learned about cooperatives and were inspired by Kristina’s, Ana’s and Anahi’s stories. Read more >>
May 3rd, 2019
Ding-ding-ding! – by Maite Gascó
Ding–ding–ding! When the little bell sounds at Prospera, we are especially delighted because we know that we have received new support. All the bells are significant and they all have a story behind them. This past April 9, we were welcomed into a Walnut Creek home by Gina and Alexandra. They opened the door with a huge smile and invited us into their beautiful living room to meet many other smiling faces — all of them women. We were there to receive a donation from How Women Give, a Bay Area Women’s Philanthropy Network that has provided $170,000 in grants to women and girls organizations in the last two years. Read more >>
April 26th, 2019
Producciones Arcoiris is up and running! by Claudia Arroyo
There is a saying that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone … and if you want to go far, bring company.” As it turns out, Producciones Arcoiris (Rainbow Productions) Co-op is going fast and soon will be going very far!
The twelve members of this cooperative business graduated from Explora just last December and since then, they have met every Thursday to formalize their cooperative project: A production company of artistic events serving the East Bay. Read more >>
April 18th, 2019
Celebrating our 2018 Fellows
After a year long commitment of growth and learning, we celebrated the graduation of our 2018 Fellows, Madeleine Hernandez Rodriguez and Mayerling Castillo!
Their time at Prospera has been a great experience for everyone. Their hard work has been essential to support Prospera at key moments, but most importantly to their personal and professional development! Read more >
March 11th, 2019
Prospera and The San Francisco Foundation renew their partnership to advance racial and economic equity in the Bay Area
Maria Rogers Pascual
For Immediate Release
- The San Francisco Foundation renews its commitment with a $50,000 Equity Grant to support Bay Area Latina entrepreneurs.
- Prospera is the only nonprofit in the U.S. that focuses solely on advancing Latina economic empowerment through cooperative business ownership.
Oakland (March, 11th 2019) – Prospera and The San Francisco Foundation renew their partnership to advance racial and economic equity for Latina immigrant women. Prospera Community Development (Prospera) is honored to announce that it has been awarded, for the second year in a row, a People, Place and Power Equity Grant from The San Francisco Foundation in the amount of $50,000. The grant will make it possible for Prospera to continue to offer leadership and entrepreneurship opportunities to more than 150 Latina immigrant women in the Bay Area. Read more >>
International Women’s Day on Univision!
On March 8, we celebrated International Women’s Day, Univision invited us to talk about the role of Latina Entrepreneurs on this day of celebration and proclamation. Nancy Rosales, Founder of Pepitos Paletas and Prospera ambassador talked about her experiences and challenges as a woman entrepreneur.
We are thankful to Univision and Nancy for giving voice to Latina women
on such an important occasion! Do not miss it! Link to the interview
June 19th, 2019
Zero Tolerance to the separation of families!
Claudia Arroyo, Community Education Director
Dear Prospera supporters, partners, and friends,
It is with deep sadness and indignation that we write to you from Prospera to denounce the Zero Tolerance policy that is being implemented by the US government. This new attack to our immigrant community means that 45 children per day are being separated from their families! What kind of society are we becoming? How is it possible that this is happening in a country that boasts of its democracy, liberty and justice? What is our responsibility as human beings? How do we make our voices heard? Read more >>
Claudia Arroyo, Directora Educación Comunitaria de Prospera
Apreciadas/os amigas/os y colaboradoras/es,
Con profunda tristeza e indignación, escribimos en Prospera esta nota para denunciar la Política de Cero Tolerancia implementada por el gobierno de este país. Esta disposición es un nuevo ataque a nuestra comunidad migrante ya que como producto de esta ley hay en promedio ¡45 niños por día que están siendo separados de sus familias! ¿En qué clase de sociedad nos estamos convirtiendo? ¿Cómo es posible que en un país que se jacta de practicar la democracia, la justicia y la libertad esto esté sucediendo? ¿Qué nos corresponde hacer?¿Cómo hacer escuchar nuestra voz?. Leer más>>
June, 7 2018
Help us launch “The Power of a Dream”!
Maite Gasco, Marketing and Development Manager
Our Dream
Gabriela Arvizu has many stories to show! Prospera’s Latina entrepreneurs have many stories to tell!
“The Power of a Dream” is an audiovisual project — led by Gabriela Arvizu, Prospera collaborator, entrepreneur, freelance and audiovisual artist — that was born with a dream of documenting and amplifying the voice of entrepreneurial Latinas. Through a series of documentary videos, Gabriela Arvizu and Prospera come together to show the world real stories of entrepreneurial Latina immigrants building cooperative businesses in the Bay Area. Read more >>
Interview with Maye Castillo, Prospera’s Fellow
Tell us about yourself. My name is Maye. I am originally from Chile, but I have lived in Oakland for nearly half of my life. I have a business as a personal trainer and I am also working towards a business administration degree with a focus on social justice.
My interest in the cooperative model dates back to 5 years ago when I was searching for a preschool for my son. I had the experience of working with 12 families in search of quality education based on values of equality and cultural diversity. Read the full interview here
August 1, 2017
Prospera Receives Equity Grant From The San Francisco Foundation
Ada Recinos
NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release $50,000 Equity Grant to be invested in Bay Area Latina entrepreneurs Nonprofit envisions a vibrant ecosystem of Latina-owned cooperatives transforming and building prosperity in low-income communities of color OAKLAND, CA… Read more >>
Prospera afirma su compromiso con mujeres como tú!
Claudia Arroyo
Querida mujer Latina, Hoy el equipo de Prospera se dirige a ti con muchas emociones encontradas por los acontecimientos y decisiones en este país al que tú o tus padres emigraron e hicieron su hogar. Prospera desaprueba y rechaza las terribles órdenes… Read more >>
We are reaffirming our commitment to immigrant communities
Maria Rogers Pascual
Dear Prospera supporters, partners, and friends, We are writing to you today with many mixed emotions about the state of our country. Prospera is shocked and enraged by the damaging executive orders and important political appointments that threaten to…Continue reading »
Join us in raising $15,000 by the end of 2016!
Irma Herrera
Dear Friends of Prospera, I hope this holiday season finds you well. My name is Irma Herrera and I have been a Board Director for Prospera for many years. Mainly, because I am passionate and support ownership opportunities for low-income Latina entrepreneurs…Continue reading »
El Cafesito
Karla C. Reyes
Since we launched our new program, we have reached over 150 women who have aspirations to become cooperative entrepreneurs. One group of 3 women in particular are getting closer to making business ownership a reality for themselves: El Cafesito is a unique…Continue reading »