CENTRO COMMUNITY PARTNERS
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Mission Statement
Our mission is to build thriving communities by providing underserved, low-income women entrepreneurs of color with entrepreneurship education, one-on-one business advising, mentorship, and access to capital.
About This Cause
Centro Community Partners (Centro) fosters socioeconomic change by providing business planning, advisory services, and leadership programs to rising yet underserved women entrepreneurs who want to launch or grow their businesses and create jobs in their communities. Centro empowers underserved entrepreneurs to be effective business owners, create self-sustaining jobs, and obtain microloans to grow businesses that add to the economic vitality and social vibrancy of their communities. Since 2010, Centro has served 8,000+ entrepreneurs, facilitated access to $7,500,000+ in loans, and provided 13,000+ hours of business coaching support. WHY WE EXIST Small business ownership offers itself as an economic opportunity that can create generational wealth while positively transforming communities. However, the current microenterprise development ecosystem is not well-equipped to support the growth prospects of small businesses in the US. This problem is further exacerbated amongst women and entrepreneurs of color who continue to face barriers in starting or growing small businesses and accessing capital and networks essential for their growth and support. Since 2010, Centro Community Partners (Centro) has dedicated itself to facilitating equal access to entrepreneurship training, financial literacy programs, access to capital, and one-on-one business advisory services with a focus on women and entrepreneurs of color. Given our resources, experience working with underserved entrepreneurs, and agility to respond to entrepreneurial needs, Centro is uniquely positioned to address these challenges and lead collaborative efforts to empower women and minority entrepreneurs in the Bay Area and beyond. THEORY OF CHANGE Innovation, entrepreneurial desire, and motivation are distributed equally regardless of race, but opportunity and resources to exercise that innovative and entrepreneurial spirit are not. We seek to fuel the imagination and the will of low-income and communities of color entrepreneurs by providing them with resources, systems information, and the right financial tools. In doing so, impacted communities can exercise their self-determination and change entire communities by breaking the cycle of poverty through their own investment and entrepreneurial spirit. Our steps-to-prosperity model begins with the idea that all individuals have the capacity to break the cycle of poverty and build thriving communities through entrepreneurship, as long as they have access to educational and financial products that are tailored to their needs and are culturally appropriate. We believe that the development of healthy small businesses, particularly those owned and run by low-income and underserved individuals, is one of the most effective sources of economic and social benefits. These benefits flow efficiently from entrepreneurs to families and neighbors, transforming entire communities. This theory informs all of our signature programming as well as the products we develop.