Oakland, CA, July 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oakland— (July 27, 2020) With a commitment to innovative philanthropy, Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP) launched the first of three phases of the PowerUp Fund (PUF) this month by deploying cash assistance to Latino small businesses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest that has resulted in an economic downturn and has disproportionately impacted Latinx communities.
“HIP is committed to bringing resources to Latino communities through the PowerUp Fund as a way to help keep the doors open of Latino small businesses,” said Ana Marie Argilagos, HIP’s president and CEO. “The PowerUp Fund helps break down barriers of inequity and build an entirely new mechanism to help build economic power for Latino individuals, families, businesses, and the nonprofits that serve them.”
In each region, the PowerUp Fund leaned on established roots and active partnerships with nonprofits. El Paso County, Los Angeles County, and Miami-Dade County were all selected because of their high rates of entrepreneurship for Latina-led small businesses across the country.
Miami-Dade County: Allapattah Collaborative CDC, a local small business service organization and Community Development Corporation, will address the gradual displacement that is eradicating one of Miami’s most diverse and vibrant cultural business districts. The Latina-run collaborative aims to make businesses in the Miami district resilient and sustainable to continue to build on the historic legacy of the corridor.
El Paso County: The Lift Fund, a Latina-led community development financial institution fund based in Texas, will impart small and micro-businesses in El Paso Colonias with direct financial support. Their work extends to provide educational resources to promote financial sustainability for every borrower.
Los Angeles County: Inclusive Action for the City, a nonprofit advocating for economic development in Los Angeles, will support small businesses in low-income neighborhoods with direct cash and technical assistance. Their efforts include backing Los Angeles’ iconic street vendors in their ambition to be embraced by the formal local economy.
In addition to the PowerUp Fund, HIP, with support from Blue Meridian Partners, has been supporting frontline organizations through emergency grantmaking focused on helping essential workers, farmworkers, civic participation nonprofits, and migrant families and refugees—all impacted by the current crises. The funds will be dedicated to resourcing communities with cash, food and rental assistance, personal protective equipment, child care, and other resources workers need to continue providing essential services for our country as we flatten the curve.
###The PowerUp Fund which is committed to raising $60 million—$1 for every Latino that calls the U.S. home—was conceived as a mechanism to “build the field” for Latinx entrepreneurs and investors, with an eye towards connecting return-seeking investors, fund managers, and advisers with Latinx start-ups, innovators, and enterprises.