Centro Community Partners

Designed to utilize the best practices in adult education and mobile technology, our solution is the Centro App. Our unique Centro App helps aspiring entrepreneurs or existing business owners to: 

1. Create their business plan and define their business models.

2. Create their Personal and Business financial statements.

3. Plan for a new or growing small business without having any formal entrepreneurship training.

4. Connect with local small business micro-lenders and support resources.

Users can download the Centro App for free from the Apple App Store or Google Android Store on their smartphones or tablets and access three different features available:

1. Business Plan: This section is an activity-based gamified process that allows entrepreneurs to create a business plan by completing a series of engaging activities. 

2. Funding: The Funding section offers need-based solutions to entrepreneurs by providing access to capital to help entrepreneurs with their capital needs, build or improve their credit or build assets using savings products.

3. Resources: This area connects entrepreneurs with a network of business advisors or nonprofit micro-enterprise development organizations (MDOs) for business support services.

Small business ownership offers itself as an economic opportunity that can create generational wealth, transforming communities. According to a recent report by McKinsey, the 1.1 million minority-owned small businesses in the US are an essential job source, employing more than 8.7 million workers and annually generating more than $1 trillion in economic output. While small businesses form the backbone of the US economy, they face considerable hurdles to grow sustainable businesses. 

The current micro-enterprise development ecosystem is not well-equipped to support the growth prospects of small businesses in the US. This problem is more prevalent amongst entrepreneurs of color and women who continue to face racial barriers in starting or growing small businesses. According to a recent Aspen/FIELD report, the contributing factors are: (1) Lack of access to entrepreneurship training programs that are culturally relevant; (2) Lack of knowledge and access to capital sources; (3) Lack of access to mentorship or business networks that cater to the needs of this specific demographics. Further, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected minority and women led small businesses who were already facing challenges due to the above issues. 

Our proposed solution seeks to address these systemic challenges.

In the US, long standing racial and gender injustices continue to hinder women and minority entrepreneurs from pursuing entrepreneurship to achieve financial stability. Our solution addresses the gaps in the small business development ecosystem to support women, Black, Indigenous and Latinx entrepreneurs and connects them with the resources to start or grow small businesses. 

With the Centro App, we have successfully tested and deployed a scalable solution that can be used to promote entrepreneurship as a pathway towards employment, build economic resilience in local communities, catalyze growth of small businesses, facilitate access to capital, create jobs and grow household income.

The Centro App is primarily designed to serve low-income women, minority and immigrant entrepreneurs. The profile and characteristics of the entrepreneurs accessing the Centro App are:

• 77% women

• 93% Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)

• 60% Hispanic (including mixed)

• 37% Spanish Speaking

The Centro App democratizes access to quality unbiased entrepreneurship training, financial literacy programs, vetted nonprofit microlenders and business advisory service providers. The Centro App can be: 

1. Utilized as a stand-alone tool by individuals to draft business plans, access capital and connect with small business service providers.

2. Combined with Centro’s curriculum to be used as a learning tool by non-profits providing technical assistance programs.

3. Utilized to create virtual micro-enterprise development ecosystems across the US connecting underserved entrepreneurs with resources to spur small business development and asset building.

We strive to meet our entrepreneurs where they are, keeping our ear to the ground and listen to community needs. We learn directly from the entrepreneurs, incorporating feedback and making constant improvements and adjustments to our Centro App.

Of the states listed, we support entrepreneurs in Florida and New Jersey.

We lead socioeconomic change by providing economic opportunity through entrepreneurship education, financial literacy and leadership programs to low-income, minority and women entrepreneurs who want to establish economic freedom and financial stability through small business creation. As a 501c3 non-profit organization, our mission is to build thriving communities by providing underserved, low-income entrepreneurs with entrepreneurship education, one-on-one business advising, mentorship, and access to capital to help them start, grow and sustain small businesses.

For more information on our offerings, please visit  https://www.centrocommunity.org/what-we-do

We believe that if we can fuel the imagination and the will of low-income and underserved entrepreneurs with the right education and financial tools, we can break the cycle of poverty and change entire communities. Besides serving individual clients, our systemic approach adds value and fill the gaps in a fragmented small business development ecosystem through the provision of augmenting tools, connecting systems, and increasing the capacity of existing service providers.

The Centro App facilitates access to high quality technical assistance training programs and services to empower individuals and upskill them with entrepreneurship training and financial education. The Centro App teaches basic business functions, helping clients prepare business plans, access capital and gain confidence in their ability to help them with their entrepreneurial ventures. Building upon their business plan and resources that catalyze small businesses, our clients start new businesses (or grow existing businesses) create local jobs, increase revenue, increase household income/savings and pursue loans, thereby contributing to local economy and transforming entire communities.

Besides serving individual clients, our solution also supports building capacity in local small business ecosystems, empowering non-profits, microenterprise development organizations (MDOs) and community development financial institutions (CDFIs). The Centro App is a scalable solution for MDOs and CDFIs to market their programs/services and connect with entrepreneurs in their community. Clients can connect with MDOs and CDFIs via the Centro App and avail their services for their businesses (such as one-on-one business advisory services, business planning assistance, small business loans). Using the Centro App as a platform, organizations can lower their operating, reduce marketing and client acquisition costs, scale their services, streamline their operations, increase their business revenue and become financially sustainable to provide curated solutions to address the needs of the small business community in their respective geographies. As these MDOs and CDFIs thrive, they add value to the local micro-enterprise development ecosystems supporting small business development and building economic resilience in local economies.

Through the Centro App, we currently reach 10,000+ entrepreneurs annually.  

Next year, we anticipate helping 15,000+, and in five years, we estimate that we will be serving 50,000+ entrepreneurs annually.

The following are the demographics and characteristics of the community we serve:

• 77% women

• 93% Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)

• 60% Hispanic (including mixed)

• 37% Spanish Speaking

Besides working directly with entrepreneurs, we also engage with other key stakeholders in the micro-enterprise development ecosystem, including but not limited to, micro-lenders (such as Kiva), Community Development Financial Institutions (or CDFIs), Microenterprise Development Organizations (or MDOs), public institutions (such as public library systems) and government agencies (such as the local offices of Small Business Development Corporation). Given the diverse nature of institutions and individuals we engage with, our organizational strategy is influenced by our team as well as key stakeholders in the micro-enterprise development ecosystem.

The following key characteristics  define our working relationship with the community and key stakeholders to create community-based and place-based solutions:

1. We represent who we serve: We hire people from the community to ensure that our team and trainers understand the needs of the entrepreneurs. We strive to meet our entrepreneurs where they are, build our trust with them, keep our ear to the ground and pay attention to their needs. Our core team observes the trainers throughout the year, offers feedback and encourages trainers to learn from each other. Our team members are exceptionally well-trained in facilitation and cultural humility - they are coached to be listeners and given their diverse experience and background, they are well equipped to connect with BIPOC communities we serve and become a partner in their success.

2. We learn from whom we serve: A key factor to our organization’s success is our involvement with the communities and the low-income entrepreneurs we serve. We learn directly from the entrepreneurs, incorporating feedback and making constant adjustments to our programs and our services, always striving to do our best to empower BIPOC and women entrepreneurs. Similarly, we engage with stakeholders and organizations in the micro-enterprise development ecosystem to gather their feedback and input to build innovative technological solutions to help them scale their services and assist BIPOC communities.

3. We lead and collaborate to offer curated solutions: We follow a strategic approach to strengthen the communities we serve and ensure their success. We engage with local community leaders and stakeholders to identify community needs. In the past, we have engaged with funders, local government bodies (such as local Mayor’s office or economic development officials), community-based business support organizations and stakeholders to conduct needs assessment. After the assessment, we present curated programs and services that adapt to the needs of the community, catalyzing small business development.

Given our resources and experience working with underserved entrepreneurs, our innovative and collaborative approach towards recognizing and addressing the community and small business needs, developing and offering culturally and linguistically relevant programs and services, Centro has developed trust within the community we serve as well among the small business owners. We use a variety of mechanisms to engage with and offer support to small business owners, including asking the right questions (humble inquiry) and offering honest feedback (radical candor). 

We engage with our community through social media (Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn), as well as email newsletters. We also add weekly updates to our website blog to showcase our entrepreneurs, partners and general updates. While program participants primarily find Centro through  word-of-mouth (from graduates, partners, and trainers), the majority of people find the Centro App through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store and other online sources.

At Centro, we plan to continue with our collaborative and innovative approach to help women and BIPOC entrepreneurs, creating economically thriving communities. Given our experience, we have the following short term and long term goals:

Next year:

1. Develop robust micro-enterprise development ecosystems that reduce inefficiencies, catalyzing small business development and living wage jobs in the underserved communities.

2. Increase access to capital and grants for women and BIPOC entrepreneurs to help them start and grow small businesses. 

In 5 years:

1. Reduce income equality and equal access to wealth accumulation opportunities for women and BIPOC entrepreneurs. 

2. Increase business ownership amongst women and minorities, helping them build generational wealth.

3. Be instrumental in creating equitable and healthy communities with reduced poverty and unemployment rates, along the racial lines.

To achieve our goals, we will:

1. Market our programs and services in underserved communities across the US to connect with and serve more  low-income women and minority entrepreneurs.

2. Support the ongoing development of the Centro App, host more MDOs, CDFIs and micro-lenders on the Centro App and connect women and BIPOC entrepreneurs with local resources. 

3. Evolve our partnerships with non-profits and MDOs offering them capacity building support through our Entrepreneurship Suite (E-Suite) – a turnkey solution for non-profits to provide TA programs and services to underserved entrepreneurs.

4. Grow our Capital Hub to support more entrepreneurs accessing interest-free loans as a Kiva Hub for Alameda and San Francisco Counties, as well as larger small business loans through Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and grants.

Our team brings together specialists from women/minority empowerment, economic development, technology and program design. Given our experienced team, Centro is uniquely positioned to remove structural barriers and address systemic challenges. The following are our team members responsible for delivery of the solution:

Arturo Noriega, Founder & CEO: With 30 years of experience as a management consultant, specializing in economic development, strategy, entrepreneurship, risk management and finance, Arturo leads Centro.

Naldo Peliks, COO: Naldo is responsible for managing operations and leading Centro’s technology development. He brings 17 years of business strategy and product development experience in technology, banking, retail, and education.

Daniel Healy, Senior Program Manager: Daniel is responsible for managing and developing educational content for Centro’s programs and the Centro App. He brings over 12 years of experience as a professional trainer and advisor, having worked in the education, economic development and governments sectors.

Estefania Cardona, Program Manager: Estefania manages programs,  the entrepreneurship trainers, and partnerships. She coordinates a team of 10 to run 40+ programs per year in multiple time zones, graduating 300+ entrepreneurs annually.

 A key factor to our organization’s success is our involvement with the communities and the low-income entrepreneurs we serve. We learn directly from the entrepreneurs, incorporating feedback and making constant improvements to our programs and our Centro App based on this feedback loop. Further, we also hire people from the community because we want our entrepreneurs to be well connected and we want our trainers to understand the needs of their cohort participants.

We are applying because we are a part of a national movement that builds equity and social justice that helps workers. As a tech-based non-profit, we address the barriers head on to scale solutions to help millions of workers. 

We believe that innovation, entrepreneurial drive and motivation is distributed equally regardless of race or gender but opportunity and resources to exercise that innovative and entrepreneurial spirit are not due to institutional racism in the economic development system. Centro seeks to support Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) entrepreneurs by providing them access to resources and financial tools. Impacted individuals can exercise their self-determination and change their communities by breaking the cycle of poverty through their own drive and entrepreneurial spirit. 

To achieve our goals and provide equal access to economic opportunity, we want to leverage MIT Solve's and Truist Foundation's network to:

1. Connect with other funders and organizations who are interested to partner with us to reach underserved communities across the US.

2. Create a national rollout strategy to market our solution to other non-profits, CDFIs and MDOs across the US to create inclusive micro-enterprise development ecosystems, using the Centro Business Planning App.

3. Connect with technology experts who can help us in developing and scaling the Centro Business Planning App

We are looking for partners who can provide us with advice and mentorship in following key areas:

Financial (Funding and Revenue Model): The Centro App as a platform provides us with opportunities to generate revenue and lower our dependence on grants. As such, we need assistance to explore revenue streams from offering the Centro App as software-as-a-service or SaaS. 

Human Capital (Board Member or Advisors): We are currently recruiting Board Members, as well as Advisors, who are experts in areas of technology development, nonprofit governance and fiscal management. We 

Monitoring and Evaluation: We would also like to connect with data management or impact consultants to assist us with our data management and impact analysis processes.

Public Relations (Marketing, media and exposure): To market our solution nationally, we need assistance to execute a marketing campaign and use a variety of media platforms to engage with women and minority entrepreneurs, CDFIs and MDOs nationwide.

Centro would like to pursue partnerships with the following organizations to help us advance our solution:

1) Ecosystem Partners: As we plan to execute a national rollout of the Centro App, we would like to collaborate with ecosystem partners who can adopt our solution to serve their mission or objectives and introduce us to their member organizations or chapters nationally. Some of the organizations that we would like to partner with include United States Small Business Association (SBA), Women’s Business Centers, Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC), Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), Urban League and Aspen Institute

2) Marketing Partners: To spread the word regarding our solution and promote it nationally, we would like to partner with Univision, Comcast and Netflix.

3) Funding Partners: Given our focus to promote entrepreneurship as a pathway towards building resilient economies and supporting women and minorities, we align well with giving focus of prominent funding organizations that we would like to partner with. We would like to pursue funding from Kauffman Foundation, Visa, Mastercard and Rockefeller Foundation to support our solution for national rollout.