WHO WE ARE

OUR STORY

All begins here...

IN PANDEMIC

During the COVID-19 pandemic, all small businesses felt the impact. However, the suffering and economic consequences were neither equal nor equitable for every business owner or entrepreneur.

A direct and urgent response was needed to address the disparity in how Latino-owned businesses could access relief capital during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020

GROWING TOGETHER

A Tulsa nonprofit, took action by teaming up with community partners and securing private donations to start the Mi Gente Fund in december 2020. This emergency loan program aimed to support local Latino-owned businesses and keep them going through the pandemic.

2020

SUPPORT

This emergency loan program aimed to support local Latino-owned businesses and keep them going through the pandemic. The loan fund provided $450,000 in zero-interest loans to 76 Latino-owned small businesses that were either ineligible for or unable to access federal pandemic assistance.

2021

FIGHTING DISCRIMINATION

The pandemic served as a catalyst in shining a light on the ongoing effects of decades worth of discrimination by financial institutions, systemic racial wealth gaps, and a general lack of available financial resources for Latino small businesses and entrepreneurs. While this COVID financial assistance was successful, ’we have to do more and this when Growing together played a role in launching and incubating Avanzando Juntos

2022

AVANZANDO JUNTOS

We became an independent 501(c)(3) in 2022 and absorbed the Mi Gente Loan Fund to advance the programming to create a more inclusive economy in Tulsa. Since taking over the Mi Gente Loan Fund, Avanzando Juntos has become an ecosystem of resources for Latino entrepreneurs looking to launch, sustain, or grow their businesses. Avanzando Juntos aims to increase the stability and vibrancy of the Latino community in Tulsa by providing access to capital, business education, and ongoing mentoring support