Moneda Moves

This season on Moneda Moves, we have been expanding how we talk about capital, because it’s not just about money. It’s also about power and access, across sectors .   In our last episode of the season, we speak with Patricia Mota – an innovative trailblazer, start-up entrepreneur, author, and more. Today, she’s President and CEO of Hispanic Alliance of Career Enhancement (HACE), on a mission to bo...

This season on Moneda Moves, we have been expanding how we talk about capital, because it’s not just about money. It’s also about power and access, across sectors .   Today, we’re talking about what it takes to gain access to one of the most traditional forms of capital: loans. According to the Latino Business Action Network , the odds of loan approval from national banks are 60% lower for Latino-...

Many people say business isn’t personal, but for Vanessa Santos , nothing could be further from the truth. To her, everything is a transaction, whether it’s a personal connection or a business deal. When she became CEO and Partner of #WeAllGrow Latina, Vanessa made it a point to live by that philosophy by engaging in meaningful exchanges of spirit, profit, and energy. Today, we’re exploring how sh...

Welcome to a brand new era of the Moneda Moves podcast. In 2025, Latinos in the U.S. face palpable changes. From a Supreme Court ruling that enables federal agents to stop suspects based solely on their race, language, or job to immigration policies that create ripple effects on crime, public health, and the education of children from mixed-status families, the ground beneath us is shifting. That’...

Welcome to an evolved era of the Moneda Moves podcast.  As the environment changes around us and our communities face palpable threats to livelihoods and built wealth, we too are realigning, and you’ll notice that our episodes are going to sound a little different moving forward. We are extending the definition of what capital looks like for our community.  Now on the Moneda Moves podcast, we'...

Mi gente!  Welcome back to a very special episode of Moneda Moves . It’s no secret that this year has been a challenging one for Latino-centered companies and business owners. From shifting economic tides to political uncertainty, the landscape is testing us—but also pushing us to innovate and build smarter. As some of you may know, I had the honor of moderating a panel at SXSW all about the state...

Finding investment opportunities is a huge part of scaling small businesses into multimillion-dollar companies and Latino founders are more likely to seek external funding to scale their companies. In order to secure funding and scale their business, they need to know how to pitch themselves to investors that will take their businesses to the next level. That’s exactly why this week’s guest is an...

Pulse check, mi gente: How are we?  January was a very, very long month and came with multiple challenges for our community. And while these threats against ours and diverse communities across the board are flooding our newsfeeds, we must also seek and distribute resources that are available in these trying times. You can find information on immigrant rights here and updates on how the ACLU is res...

A warm welcome back to our Moneda visionaries. In the first week of the Trump administration, several actions have deeply impacted our community, particularly with heightened immigration enforcement and the removal of Spanish-language resources from the White House website. These moves, coupled with the threat of large-scale deportations , DEI order , and the dismantling of environmental justice p...

Welcome back, Moneda Moves community. Following an eventful start to this week in news, we have another amazing journalist on the podcast, Cora Cervantes, who spoke with Latinos all last year leading up to the election which landed Trump in office. She’s here to share what she heard on the ground from Latinos, many of who are business owners, and their biggest concerns they want to see addressed –...

Mi gente, the first season of Moneda Moves is ready for launch! Thank you for joining us in the new year and our 180th installment of our Moneda Moves notitas. This season, we’re focusing on 2025 economic trends, how they affect our entrepreneurial community, and our community will move the American economy. You can expect to hear from some incredible experts this season, including investors and n...

Can you believe it? We have arrived at the last installment of 2024 with Moneda Moves, and thank you for joining us this year! Throughout this season, we continued to cover top Latino entrepreneurs and leaders in the space looking to close capital gaps in our ecosystem, starting with my hometown, Chicago, the wider Midwest, and beyond. This week, we’re coming back to our roots and talking about ho...

What’s up, Moneda Moves community? No one should be left behind in our mission to achieve equal pay, even for Latinas. Yet, in 2024, the Latina pay gap widened for the first time in 20 years. That's impacting Latinas across the board and in most disparate ways our caregivers, mothers, farmworkers, and people working in hospitality. My time reporting out of NYC reminds me of a time when I covered f...

Que tal, Moneda Moves community? As both an employee and an entrepreneur in the financial industry, Juan knows just about everything there is to know about a business’s finances. He knew exactly what founders would need from a financial program like Lazo in order to grow their businesses, so he built it! Juan created a company that empowers Latino business owners through their finances and ensures...

Welcome back to another installment of Moneda Moves mi gente! Diana Hernandez Wayne wants you to live your life intentionally; otherwise, what’s the point? I first met her at L’Attitude, the annual conference hosted by the $100 million fund (LAT VC) investing in Latino businesses.  Diana is an absolute force, and I am so excited to have her on the show. She is a wealth of knowledge and feels like...

This week, we’re highlighting a cross-border trailblazer who is dedicated to bringing financial news in context for Spanish speakers in the United States. Our guest, Enrique Castro, is dedicated to bridging the financial education gap he’s noticed in Latino populations by sharing the knowledge he’s learned firsthand and creating a connection to current affairs. Each week, Enrique empowers his audi...

Today we are honoring the Midwest by shining a light on Samara Hernandez, the Founding Partner of Chingona Ventures. Samara and her team are the perfect examples of the incredible talent living in our hometown of Chicago. Chingona Ventures is an institutionally backed pre-seed stage fund focusing on investing in tech and tech-enabled companies across the U.S. The fund has $60MM in AUM and has made...

What do Black and Latino entrepreneurs look like, uninterrupted? That’s the question, Felecia Hatcher, CEO of Pharrell William’s Black Ambition Opportunity Fund , has for the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Hatcher is a White House Award-Winning Entrepreneur, Motivational Speaker and Author. The Fund, which she leads, invests in diverse entrepreneurs with capital, mentorship and uninterrupted access t...

You were just hearing from Laura Moreno Lucas, a Latina entrepreneur, about the purpose behind her latest initiative Libra Leaders (https://libraleaders.com/). It’s a new platform with a collective $1.2B in investment capital setting out to help founders “scale the capital ladder,” by providing access to a network of influential women at every level of the capital markets, growth opportunities, an...

Welcome to the 2024 season of Moneda Moves mi gente. This year, we are speaking with leaders in the Latino entrepreneurship ecosystem who are paving the way.  And among them is Rocio van Nierop is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Latinas in Tech. For more than 15 years, she has been working in the tech industry and is and advocating for Latinx diversity and inclusion. Today, Latinas in Tech co...

On the final episode of Moneda Moves for 2023, we are speaking with Isabel Casillas Guzman, the 27th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.  "Everyone is trying to figure out how to target the Latino market," she says. "(Latinos) have an advantage in knowing what the needs and the wants are of this community at scale." When it comes to speaking about accessing...

Today we speak with Hector Saldivar, Founder and CEO of Tia Lupita Foods, a better for you, healthy Mexican-inspired food brand that uses clean and simple ingredients in all their products. His journey started with his mom’s salsa recipe, which he wanted to package to share with the world. Tia Lupita Foods has expanded beyond salsas and is in the business of selling tortillas, grain-free chips and...

Pinole Blue started out of a dorm room while Eddie Sandoval was studying business at Wichita State University. His family is from Chihuahua, Mexico. Growing up, he would take trips twice a year to visit and bring home pinole, a multiuse, nutrient-dense mixture of roasted ground maize savored by his family for generations. He realized his family wasn’t the only one that missed having easy access to...

Keith Alaniz is in the business of doing good and doing well. He is one of the founders and CEO of Rumi Spice, a social enterprise that promotes peace in Afghanistan by connecting farmers with markets and empowering Afghan women. Keith’s military service in Afghanistan inspired him to start Rumi Spice in 2014, which has since become an award-winning company known for its high quality spices and it...

When Miguel Leal saw American shelves representing Mexican food, he noted there was a big opportunity to create this offering: a CPG company that is both culturally-relevant and convenient. Enter SOMOS Foods, which makes Mexican food with authentic recipes and plant-based, Non-GMO ingredients. Tacos, tostadas, nachos and chilaquiles are all ready in ten minutes. His experience in building successf...