Project Thrive is an IM4HI program that paves the way for immigrants and others who face barriers to flourish and thrive. In 2021, IM4HI was one of eight organizations in the state to be awarded a grant through the California Department of Labor’s SEED Initiative to promote the entrepreneurship of immigrants, English language learners, and those who face employment barriers.
IM4HI’s Project Thrive; Floreciendo Tus Sueños entrepreneurial training program ran in 2021-2022 and supported people our organization has accompanied through our various programs, including immigrants, asylum seekers, and people who have experienced ICE
detention or incarceration.
Our course trainers, Silvia and Delila, taught a 6-week multi-lingual entrepreneurial course and provided technical assistance to augment the understanding and capacity of people to start or grow their small businesses as pathways for income and economic independence for their families and communities. Seventy-seven people attended the course and received an increased understanding of the options available for small business entrepreneurship, regardless of immigration status, and the major components to successfully launching and running a business.
Those who completed the 6-week course were eligible to apply for a limited number of micro-grants funded through the project.
In February 2022, twenty individuals were selected to receive microgrants to support their businesses. Some of the awardee businesses include photography, kitchen and house repair, a taco truck, paleta (ice cream) vending, house cleaning, cosmetic sales, care for mentally disabled adults, automobile servicing and sales, custom jewelry manufacturing, pool servicing and auto transport.
Many of the micro-grant awardees are showcased below in our 2022 celebration booklet. We invite you to support them with your patronage, and mentorship, and by supporting IM4HI’s Project Thrive: Floreciendo Tus Sueños. We celebrate their learnings and accomplishments!
Read more about Project Thrive and its wonderful participants in the 28-page PDF below.
Meet the Trainers
Silvia Guardado | Business Development Consultant
An immigrant of El Salvador, Silvia owns an accounting firm. She has more than twenty years of experience helping small business entrepreneurs with financial and compliance needs. She has worked as an instructor with SCORE, helping beginning business owners use QuickBooks, manage cash flow, and thrive. She currently works with the National Latina Business Women Association of the Inland Empire (where she was a founding board member, treasurer, and instructor) to help small business owners obtain loans through the PPP federal loan program.
Delila Vasquez, M.A. | Business Development Consultant
An immigrant business woman, Delila has more than thirty years’ experience working with homeless families, immigrants, and incarcerated people in the Inland Empire. She is the founder of Demi Cocina, a small business promoting healthy food choices for Latinx families. She and Silvia co-designed this course curriculum during a Business Academy at the Camara de Comercio Hispana de Pomona and have delivered it seven business courses through SMG Business Services. Delila has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Business Women in the Inland Empire, and was Vice President in 2017.
Registration Information
- Spanish Training Series, August 2021. Download Flyer.
- English Training Series, September 2021. Download Flyer.
For more information contact Hilda Cruz:
909.736.0892 | hcruz@im4humanintegrity.org
