Entrepreneur-Based Community Development — Natalia Rodriguez-Hilt

This week’s VentureFuel Visionary is Natalia Rodriguez-Hilt, Senior Director of UnidosUS Affiliate Development and Small Business Strategies at Raza Development Fund. She is a seasoned expert in economic and community development, with a passion for driving economic opportunity for entrepreneurs in underrepresented communities.

In this episode, we discuss how the Raza Development Fund unleashes the power, potential, and promise of Latino and other under-resourced communities to accelerate the $2.1 trillion incremental revenue potential of Latino-owned businesses. We also talk about the need for creative financing to enable that growth (such as equity-like, revenue-based loans), the role of CDFIs, and how to empower entrepreneurs to ignite change.