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/