¡Viva! Nonprofit Training

¡Viva!: A National Model for Financial Capability Integration at Nonprofits

MEDA has been serving the low-income, Latino, immigrant community in San Francisco since 1973 — that’s over four decades evolving our model.

Our nonprofit has been sharing our unique, culturally specific ¡Viva! Model for years, helping to build increased capacity in low-income communities across the country.

Locally, and across the country, we as low- and moderate-income individuals, immigrants and communities of color are facing intersectional and complicated challenges. But greater than these challenges are our strengths, resilience and determination. MEDA aims to strategically work in community to empower and advance ourselves in the United States. Our dynamic ecosystem approach includes partnerships and allies to combat economic inequity, social injustice and political attacks, to build wealth and power for us and our future generations.

Financial Capability Integration Matters

Financial capability is a key piece of everything we do in our lives, whether or not we’re actively thinking about it and working on it.

MEDA knows how important financial capability is to successfully building generational assets. No matter the reason a client comes to MEDA, a financial education is offered.

Training, Technical Assistance and Grant Funds

By sharing our ¡Viva! Model with organizations across the country, we aim to:

  • Expand access to generational wealth and power building for low- and moderate-income individuals, immigrants and communities of color.
  • Take nonprofits out of siloed work via strategic partnerships.
  • Facilitate organizing and best-practice exchange.
  • Build cohesiveness and coalition across communities.
  • Move communities from surviving to thriving.

Beyond technical training, we see the Financial Capability work as a vehicle for expanding access to generational wealth and power building for low- and moderate-income individuals, immigrants and communities of color across the nation. We believe that all stakeholders play a role in scaling this access, from fund development to advocacy to community engagement.

If you are an organization looking to integrate financial capability into your programs, or you are a connector looking to support capacity building and community impact, contact Chief Strategy Officer Richard Raya: (415) 282-3334 ext. 155; rraya@medasf.org.

Read blogs on sharing the model.