This year marked the seventh anniversary of one of California’s most destructive wildfire seasons on record. In 2017, after the Tubbs Fire ravaged communities in Napa and Sonoma Counties, the Latino Community Foundation (LCF) partnered with Latino-led and Latino-serving organizations to ensure that Latino and immigrant families could receive critical financial and emergency assistance, rehousing support, and Spanish translation. What began as LCF’s rapid-response efforts evolved into the beginning of a deep, long-standing partnership that would enable community building and a just recovery like never before.
LCF’s Just Recovery Partnership and, eventually, the Promotora Cooperative Initiative partnership began with La Luz Center, North Bay Organizing Project, and UpValley Family Centers, then expanded to an additional seven organizations, including 89.1 KBBF, Community Health Initiative, Movimiento Cultural de la Union Indigena, On The Move, Corazon Healdsburg, Raizes Collective, and Puertas Abiertas Community Resource Center. Along with LCF, these organizations set out to deepen coordination, increase impact, and build civic and economic power for lasting change.
It was this coalition that came together time and again during subsequent wildfires, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Census to ensure our communities had the support and care they deserved. They relied on the communities’ most trusted messengers – Promotoras or Community Health Workers. In Latino communities throughout the country, women leaders are the backbone, the connectors, and organizers. In recognition of this unique power-building opportunity, LCF launched the Just Recovery Promotora Network to provide support and promote the leadership of a cohort of 50 powerful Latinas working across the Just Recovery Partnership.
Recognizing the essential role and profound impact of Promotoras, LCF and the Just Recovery Partnership advocated for a more equitable compensation model. For too long, Promotoras had been paid with gift cards or stipends, lacking pay stability, economic mobility, and opportunities to build generational wealth. Here is where the stars aligned – as the partnership was building beyond emergency response and towards lasting economic opportunity, LCF increased its support for entrepreneurship pathways, and there was a growing recognition of Promotora work and how honoring their contributions could sustain this essential sector. The result: a bold new approach to compensating Promotoras, not through wages, but through worker-owned cooperatives where they could earn business revenue generated by their very own labor and expertise.
Latinas are leading the charge in small business creation across the nation and trailblazing with worker-owned cooperatives, a powerful business model rooted in shared prosperity. As Promotora interest grew, we partnered with experts like Prospera, Democracy At Work Institute (DAWI), and the California Health Care Foundation to launch a Promotora Cooperative Initiative. At its inception, this initiative empowered Promotoras to assess their own readiness and interest in small business, while equipping nonprofits to serve as the supportive launch pad for these cooperatives.
Incubating a cooperative is a significant step and investment of resources, and we are grateful for the leadership and heart of UpValley Family Centers and Raizes Collective for stepping up to advance this initiative. With market assessments and tailored business plans for both cooperatives, these partners are pioneering a new model in the North Bay – one that will transform businesses and communities. Most importantly, we are grateful for the Promotoras who stepped up to lead this change and add one more title to their resumes – business owner.
To conclude the year, LCF convened the Just Recovery Partnership organizations to share the latest progress on the Promotora Cooperative Initiative. UpValley Family Centers and Raizes Collective, the incubating organizations, shared that they had staffed up, confirmed cooperative members, and begun a training cohort. All the partners celebrated the progress as shared accomplishments. Having worked together to help communities survive, they are now focused on helping these cooperatives thrive. LCF and these partners are excited for the many milestones ahead as the cooperatives finalize operating agreements, fully incorporate, and launch in 2025.
By: Max Vargas, Vice President of Economic Justice
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