Raza Development Fund Cheers on the Amor Collective in Peoria

Rachel Jimenez
August 17, 2023
Blog
84 likes
Raza Development Fund Cheers on the Amor Collective in Peoria

Head down to Peoria’s Park West shopping center and be ready to fall in love as you visit the Amor Collective. As you walk in, you’ll be embraced by the aromas of coffee, candles and sweet candy produced with excitement and creativity by Latina entrepreneurs. This small business incubator is the culmination of Founder’s Stephanie Vasquez’s rally cry to empower fellow Latina small business leaders. And our Raza Development Fund Familia is beyond thrilled to see it come to fruition.  

Last year, Stephanie reached out to us with an innovative vision. While leading her nonprofit organization Empowering Latina Leaders in Arizona, and the Mujeres Mercado pop-up markets, she wanted to provide these women with a retail space to sell and promote their products while also gaining educational resources (like skill building workshops) and mentorship for their business development.  

At RDF, while we’ve provided small business grants and loans, a project like this was new to us. In fact, it’s a brand-new concept entirely. We’ve supported Stephanie’s Fair Trade Café in the past and have always been impressed by her leadership skills, business acumen and eagerness to help her community. Beyond that we believe in the value of investing in Latina entrepreneurs – a community that is leading small business development in this country. We know by providing our funds to bridge barriers to capital, we open the door to even more possibilities for these Latina-owners.  

 In the spring of 2022, we provided the seed funds to help kick off this project. Later, we enjoyed a brainstorming session with Stephanie to give the idea a name – Amor.  Our team joined the Amor Collective businesses in the excitement of activities leading up to the big day.  

After intentional planning and design, Amor Collective officially opened August 5th! And we couldn’t be prouder!  

 

 

 

 

The Power of this Concept  

To us, Amor Collective is more than supporting a long-time client, or even supporting a group of 20 small businesses. This is women supporting women, Latinas empowering each other to greater heights. It’s Amor! This incubator is organized with love, the artwork and other items sold are made with love. It’s a collective community coming together to expand possibilities and be unapologetically fearless.  

 We encourage you to visit the Amor Collective. Shop and participate in upcoming workshops like the Hat Bar Experience on Aug 20th or Jewelry Making on Aug. 23rd. Support these entrepreneurs, the businesses and our community. Learn more: https://amorcollectiveaz.com/ 

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Rachel Jimenez
Rachel Jimenez serves as Raza Development Fund's Communications Department Manager. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communications at Arizona State University. Rachel has extensive experience supporting content marketing efforts for national and state non-profits, as well as small businesses.
Phone 602-417-1400
Raza Development Fund (RDF) is the largest national, Latino-focused nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). Driven by a mission to close wealth and opportunity gaps in Latino and other under-resourced communities across the United States, RDF provides responsible and attainable financial solutions to community-based organizations focused on health, education, affordable housing, climate resilience, homeownership, and entrepreneurship. RDF was founded in 1999 as a support organization to UnidosUS, the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy nonprofit, formerly known as the National Council of La Raza. As a testament to its exceptional financial strength and impact, RDF stands out as one of the few CDFIs with a prestigious AA- S&P rating. Since its inception, RDF has invested more than $1.3 billion across 38 states, leveraging over $6 billion in additional capital.
In accordance with federal law and U.S. Department of the Treasury policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. Submit a complaint of discrimination, by mail to U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity , 1500 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20220, (202) 622-1160 (phone), (202) 622-0367 (fax), or email crcomplaints@treasury.gov (email).

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