Employment Training Panel of California Awards $2M Grant to Support Inland Empire Spanish Speaking Entrepreneurs

PALM SPRINGS, Calif., July 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Employment Training Panel (ETP), has awarded $2M through the SEED 2.0 Grant to an Inland Empire-based coalition led by Caravanserai Project and includes Uplift San Bernardino at the Making Hope Happen Foundation, and Get in Motion Entrepreneurs. The grant supports individuals who face significant employment barriers by providing entrepreneurial training, technical assistance, and micro-grants to start or advance small businesses in California addressing a social challenge or meeting a community need. The program focuses on entrepreneurs with limited English proficiency, regardless of immigration or citizenship status. The beneficiaries may be US citizens, individuals who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or Temporary Protected Status or may not be lawfully present in the United States.

Caravanserai Project, Uplift San Bernardino at the Making Hope Happen Foundation, and Get in Motion Entrepreneurs have advanced hundreds of entrepreneurs and organizations from historically underrepresented and marginalized populations in California, and in particular the Inland Empire. This partnership is a timely response to the imperative need to turbo charge local entrepreneurs and for profit and not for profit organizations, with a particular focus on Latinx individuals in the Inland Empire region of California with historically limited access to specialized technical assistance and funding. A total of $1.5M in micro-grants (up to $7,500 each) is available to entrepreneurs who successfully graduate from the Spanish language entrepreneurship training provided by this coalition. The program is expected to conclude by May 2024.

"Part of our core goal with our partners at Caravanserai Project is to support Inland Empire based entrepreneurs in building sustainable and future-thinking organizational infrastructure, with seed funding. This infusion of capital into businesses owned by historically underserved entrepreneurs is not only timely, it will also have a profound impact on the regional economy," says Peter Cooper, Assistant Director, Employment Training Panel.

Caravanserai Project CEO Mihai Patru said, "Our objective is to tap into the reservoir of incredible Latinx entrepreneurs in the Inland Empire and invest in them and their businesses. This the only way to prepare the region for a future that fully reflects the diversity and the true needs of its residents."

Uplift San Bernardino Executive Director Karen Suarez said, "We appreciate innovative programs like ETP SEED 2.0 that will strengthen our business community and recognize the value and importance of our diverse and culturally rich immigrant communities across the Inland Empire. We look forward to working with our colleagues in supporting small business growth in the IE!"

Get in Motion Entrepreneurs Founder & Executive Director Armando Ehrenzweig said, "This is a new milestone for our Latino Communities. This project will allow us to support their businesses. Let's get in motion."

To learn about the program visit: https://caravanseraiproject.org/seed-2/ 

Caravanserai Project is a hybrid social impact venture striving to identify, mobilize and energize mission-driven leaders to build sustainable and future-ready ventures, for profits and nonprofits alike, to generate irreversible system change. They are actively engaged in supporting mission-driven efforts in the Inland Empire region as well at the national and international level. For more information: www.caravanseraiproject.org.

Uplift San Bernardino is a collective impact initiative of the Making Hope Happen Foundation. Uplift San Bernardino's framework for change is built on three primary strategies, neighborhood development, economic opportunities, and human capital. Within these strategies are a variety of mutually reinforcing activities that align to impact our mission of building a generation of successful adults who are committed to growing roots in San Bernardino. For more information: www.upliftsb.org.

Get in Motion Entrepreneurs is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to create a new generation of Latino Leaders who create sustainable communities. They provide Educational Business for the development of entrepreneurs and small business owners in the Greater Coachella Valley region and Riverside County. Get in Motion Entrepreneurs is a 2021/2022 SEED Lab alumni, a Caravanserai Project pre-accelerator focused on mission-driven entrepreneurs. For more information: https://getinmotion.org 

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SOURCE Caravanserai Project