Celebrating Latino Heritage and Creating Catering Businesses!

Did you feel that earthquake earlier this month? We sure did—and we’re keeping the momentum going by shaking things up here at Inclusive Action!?

It’s Latino Heritage Month! In recognition, we celebrate Latino businesses, an essential part of our local economy. According to the Los Angeles Business Journal, the Latino Business Sector is so big and powerful that if it were its state, its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would be larger than that of Louisiana and Oregon.?

Meet Noelle and Juana, Latina Bosses

Many of our clients are Latino-owned businesses contributing to our economy and making LA a special and unique place. These business owners include people like Noelle Reyes , who operates Mi Vida Boutique, where she is inspired daily to create handmade art, crafts, folk arts, and vintage clothing, and operates a community space where she currently hosts various events such as art walk nights, painting nights, and healing workshops. Or Juana Dominguez in South Los Angeles, whose market offers customers fruits, vegetables, baked goods, cleaning products, and gifts.?

Latino businesses continue to thrive year-round, and to them, we thank you for being a significant part of our economy and the diversity that has long defined LA and California.?

We Launched a Catering Certification Program?

For over a decade, as we’ve supported micro businesses to formalize, sustain, and grow, we’ve matched these businesses to cater to hundreds of music, food, and merchandise markets and events. We saw that these opportunities contributed greatly to the revenue of the businesses and that’s why we decided to invest further.

This month, we are so proud to announce that we’ve kicked off our new catering certification program to help us prepare micro-businesses and match them with market opportunities. Our catering curriculum covers all the basics, including obtaining required documents and permits, creating a menu, pricing products, and catering etiquette. For now, we’re offering this to our active clients, but stay tuned for more on this blossoming program!

A few years of creating and?managing the?Open Air Economy Collaborative?with our partners Public Counsel,?Rise Economy, and East LA Community Corporation, we've arrived at a significant moment. This week, we partnered with the Los Angeles Public Library?to host a Resource Fair to offer resources to Black and Latina women's street vending businesses.The?community advisory board?of the collaborative - the street vendors themselves! - drove?vibrant discussions, and the event offered concurrent 1:1 technical assistance on accounting and financial literacy. Community, city, and county resources were distributed throughout the event.?A huge thank you to Community Power Collective, 211 Los Angeles County, Rescue Org, MCS LA Small Business, and LA Saves, who came out to support and table with us!

Congratulations to our Board Co-Chair, Maria Cabildo

We extend our warmest congratulations to Maria Cabildo , an esteemed community leader and Inclusive Action board member, on her recent appointment as CEO of the Durfee Foundation. With over 20 years of dedicated service and #advocacy for communities, Maria has made a profound impact, and we are confident she will continue to lead with excellence in her new role.

If you want to support work like this, please consider donating to Inclusive Action. Donating any amount helps us continue providing comprehensive support to local entrepreneurs. https://secure.givelively.org/donate/inclusive-action-for-the-city?

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