By Rudy Espinoza, Executive Director of Inclusive Action for the City I returned from Aspen last week where I was discussing leadership and human nature as part of the Aspen Executive Seminar, a component of the Civil Society Fellowship. While I was there, 10 people were shot in Buffalo, New York. 3 people were shot…
Illustration by Anna Parini
By Rudy Espinoza and Marco Covarrubias We are not doing enough to make sure that public resources are reaching small businesses in our country. This morning, the County of Los Angeles promoted yet another program to help small businesses survive the COVID-19 Crisis: the “Save Small Business” Fund. Last week, the Small Business Administration (SBA)…
By Rudy Espinoza This morning, one of our funding partners hosted a video call with several community organizations to gather information on what community groups are hearing on the ground. I’ve been grateful to the handful of institutions that support Inclusive Action who have reached out via email, calls or text to check in. One…
By Rudy Espinoza Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been listening to the fear and anxieties of the micro-entrepreneurs we work with as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. None of us can accurately anticipate how this will impact our communities, but what’s clear is that micro-businesses and their workers are already seeing a…
By Rudy Espinoza The Coronavirus has gone viral (pun intended). Over the last week, we’ve seen headlines taken over by the threat of illness in our communities. Supermarkets, big box stores, and even Amazon are sold out of hand sanitizer, anti-bacterial wipes, and toilet paper. Employers are telling their workers to stay home. Some countries…
How Lenders & Investors Can Do More Than Just Talk About Equity By Rudy Espinoza When Trump established the Opportunity Zone program as part of his 2017 Tax Cut, people across the political spectrum were both happy and sad. Some thought this was an important moment to galvanize the super wealthy to invest in low-income…