Prospera Community Development
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Explore Your Cooperative (Explora tu Cooperativa)
The Explore Your Cooperative program (Explora) is a training for Latina entrepreneurs with an interest in exploring the basics of cooperativism in order to launch their own businesses or join an existing cooperative. The program consists of ten 3-hour sessions in which the essential topics covered include an introduction to cooperatives and how they operate, tools for effective communication and governance, conflict transformation, and participants also develop a first draft of a business plan.
Grow your Cooperative (Crece)
2-year tailored training and technical assistance program that takes cooperative businesses from growth to sustainability. We offer technical assistance and individual coaching that supports entrepreneurs to build and launch their cooperatives.
Fellowship
Prospera’s 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.
Specifically, this program invests in the leadership of select entrepreneurs enrolled in the organization’s business incubation program called Crece tu Cooperativa
(which means Grow your Coop). It targets founding members of cooperative projects that are poised to grow and provide business ownership opportunities for other women. In addition to receiving the ongoing training and technical assistance that is part of the Crece program, fellows access increased and tailored industry specific support, leadership coaching, access to office space plus a seed grant that makes it possible for them to dedicate a minimum of 20 hours per week to growing the business.
Where we work
Awards
2012 Leader in Sustainability – Small Business Category 2012
Sustainable Contra Costa
2011 Community Resilience Leadership Award 2011
Bay Localize
2010 Innovator Award 2010
Oakland Indie Awards
2008 Arthur Jackson Diversity in Business Award 2008
San Francisco Bay Guardian Newspaper Small Business Awards
2008 Impact Award 2008
Inner City Advisors
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Unfortunately, many Latina Immigrant entrepreneurs don't have access to the kinds of resources and opportunities that many successful business owners have had. Such as bicultural business development training, exposure to alternative business models, industry experts, technical assistance and start-up capital.
At Prospera, women learn how to turn an idea into a successful cooperative business and:
*Create a business plan with support from industry experts
*Test their product or service in the market
*Create legally binding agreements to support shared ownership with their business partners
*Secure financing and launch their business
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
By taking the best of what exists in start-up businesses and co-op, and converting that into Latina-centered trainings and tools, in Spanish; we can make sure that they are relevant and applicable to the businesses of their choice.
Prospera's program has four core levels and an advanced program:
*Community Education: Robust partnership strategy of cultivation with community based organizations that serve our target population. organizations via information sessions on and off-site, office hours for one-on-one interviews, tabling in local events and Charlas con Emprendedoras (Chats with Entrepreneurs), a community education initiative.
*Explore your Co-op (Explora tu Cooperativa): An introductory course with three 3-hour sessions in communication and business model canvass where exceptional, entrepreneurial women gain basic skills in cooperative development, business planning and communications
*Founder's School (Escuela de Fundadoras): A comprehensive program that brings cohorts from business idea to launch, through technical assistance, training, and leadership coaching
*Grow your Co-op (Crece tu Cooperativa): 2-year customized training and technical assistance for co-op expansion and sustainability for cooperatives that have launched through our Founders School
*Co-op Leadership Developer program: A year-long fellowship program for experienced worker-owners to become co-op developers, grow leadership skills, and train new cohorts.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Prospera's programs are developed with the understanding that Latina immigrant women also have unique skills, strengths and gifts that are often not recognized by society at large. They often hold multiple jobs, serve as the primary breadwinner for their immediate and extended families, are primary caregivers for their children, and at the same time manage to lead, and run side businesses. Studies have documented the resiliency of Latino immigrants, based in large part on the high value Latinos place on familismo (familism), which emphasizes “interdependence over independence, and cooperation over competition". Latinos are more likely to thrive when their families and communities believe and rely on their strengths, often resulting in high self-esteem as well. This makes them an ideal group for co-ops that require worker-owners to have complementary skills and abilities.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We envision a vibrant ecosystem of Latina-owned businesses cooperating to transform communities and local economies and building prosperity for the benefit of all. As illustrated in our theory of change, we have goals in four areas: women, businesses, families, and communities. Prospera supports women to build collaborative communities with other entrepreneurial women, develop their leadership, and access resources to advance their wellbeing and financial health. Through business and cooperative ownership they create meaningful jobs, sustain families, and generate thriving local economies. Immigrant families are able to increase and stabilize their wellbeing and build wealth, and support and value the businesses owned by the women in their families. Our ultimate goal is that communities see positive social, environmental, equity impacts and build alternatives to extractive capitalism.
Since transitioning from WAGES in 2015, Prospera has engaged participant input to update its program model and name. Some accomplishments to date include:
-200+ Latina immigrant entrepreneurs impacted annually through our workshops and community education events.
-404 women graduated from our core cooperative development program.
-35 Latina-owned businesses incubated including 8 green house cleaning cooperatives that generated over 100 high quality jobs and $3 million in sales each year.
-$250,000 in grants and loans accessed by Prospera-supported businesses.
- Over $100K in seed funding provided to 6 fellows to accelerate the growth of their businesses.
- Participant-governed Resiliency Fund launched, distributing $172K in cash assistance to entrepreneurs during the pandemic.
-Raising Our Voices Coalition co-created with the Latino Community Foundation and 11 other community partners to uplift Latina entrepreneurial voices in our community through advocacy and organizing events.
-8 episodes of our Para Todas podcast produced, providing a platform for unlearning and healing through the power of storytelling.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Prospera Community Development
Board of directorsas of 06/02/2023
MariaCarmen Arjona
Senior Learning Consultant at Kaiser Permanente
Term: 2021 - 2023
Nancy Rosales
Founder Pepitos Paletas
Ximena Orozco
Consultant, Facilitator & Coach – XORO Consulting
Guadalupe Perez
Co-founder De Colores Consulting
Maria Rogers Pascual
Program director at the LeadersTrust
Anais Amaya
Latino Community Foundation - Latino Giving Circles Director
Anne Lufkin-Riaño
Consultant | Social Impact
Itzel Diaz
Strategic Communications OfficerStrategic Communications Officer First 5 Alameda County
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data