SF Examiner 3 Minute Interview: Luis Granados

By: Sarah Haughey
San Francisco Examiner
December 12, 2010

Mission-based nonprofit wins $200K grant from BofA

Luis Granados, executive director of the Mission Economic Development Agency, a nonprofit that works to create jobs for low-income Hispanic families in the Mission district, was honored by Bank of America through its Neighborhood Excellence Initiative, a grant program designed to stimulate the local economy.

What does this award mean to you?

We’re very thankful. Often, recognition comes without resources attached, so getting resources now in this difficult time is really appreciated. We recognize that Bank of America had a lot of choices for this award and we’re very fortunate to have been chosen.

How much funding will you receive?

We will be getting $100,000 per year over two years, so $200,000 in total. It’s great that this helps us over two years, and it’s also flexible money so we can use it how we need to.

How will the funding be used?

We just created Plaza Adelante in the Mission, which is focused on serving low-income families in San Francisco through financial services and business-development assistance; we will use the funding to strengthen the infrastructure and assistance of Plaza Adelante.

What are the nonprofit’s future goals?

There’s a lot of dialogue about creating jobs, and a lot of the money is being put forward to train people for jobs, but there are no jobs to place them in. We want to make an explicit concept of connecting entrepreneurs to work-force development and business development services so they can increase their skill sets.

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