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Our Story
Established in 2022
FounderFamilia was established in 2022 with the vision of creating a supportive community of change-makers who would be stronger together than alone. We know that being a founder can be a lonely road. Especially when you come from a community that doesn’t have access to all of the tools and support resources available to those that come from more “traditional” backgrounds.
Our vision is best described by our motto that La Unión Hace La Fuerza! Our founders are entrepreneurs who have gone through the journey and are eager to give back and support the next generation of entrepreneurs. Our leaders are committed to supporting you with the tools they wish they had in their own journey. We are a young organization and our story is still being written. You can help us better support you and our community by becoming
Being an entrepreneur can be a hard and lonely job. The truth is you don’t have to undertake that journey alone.
At FounderFamilia we provide you with a community, education and access. These are the pillars that can help mean the difference between the next Unicorn and one of the many startups that didn’t make it.
Whether your company is in the pre-seed to growth stage we have a Community for you.
Whether its a fin-tech, to AI or retail startup, we have Education tools that can help you grow.
Whether you are located in the US or in LatAm we can help increase your Access.
A regular community provides connections, support and engagement for its members. The FounderFamilia community provides all of this with the added benefit of being made up of entrepreneurs who have similar stories, heritage and backgrounds. You instantly feel the sense of belonging when you meet members of our community at one of our events. Each and every member wants to connect with you and find ways to help, engage and support each other. This is the difference the Founder Familia community brings.
At FounderFamilia we have met and worked with thousands of founders across most industries. Through these interactions we have seen many of the gaps in knowledge our founders are hoping to address. We have worked with partners, universities and serial entrepreneurs to distill their knowledge and learnings and bring them to our community. As part of the community you have the opportunity to attend virtual and in person sessions with educators, entrepreneurs and VCs who are eager to help fill in the gaps that can propel your endeavor to its next stage.
When you attend prestigious Ivy League or have an investment from a Top tier VC, you get access to their network, connections, and partners. For many of us in the Latine community we don’t have that level of access. FounderFamilia aims to change that by providing our members access to everything from capital providers, to services from FF supporting organizations, and even tickets to conferences and events. Our goal is be the best network you will need to get you the access you need to succeed!
Team
Meet our small but mighty team!
Cheryl is passionate about the intersection of finance, technology, and social impact. She is one of the founders of VCFamilia and is currently getting her MBA at Stanford GSB. Previously she was the Head of Venture Growth and Partnerships at Republic, a one-stop-shop for founders to raise capital from both accredited and non-accredited investors. In other direct investing roles, she is a scout for Lightspeed and an investment partner at NextWave NYC. Learn more about her here!
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Alex Ruiz has been pivotal in guiding the strategy and initiatives on the FounderFamilia side. He brings over 20 years of experience to the table, specializing in launching and scaling emerging technologies. His expertise extends to business development, scaling operations, and leading teams internationally, particularly across LATAM. He serves as an angel investor and advisor for startups aiming to scale their teams, operations, or expand globally.
Andrea brings a background of operational and strategic growth experience and leads the organization’s initiatives in programming and strategic partnerships and supports fundraising, communications, community management, and administrative work. Her background in entrepreneurship, investments, studies in venture capital & private equity, and passion for social impact make her a key team member passionate about the organization’s mission and goals.
Jonathan Chavez brings 10 years of experience in banking, venture capital, startup management, and business operations consulting. Jonathan's ability to understand operational gaps & inefficiencies, scope out potential solutions, and implement appropriate tools & processes helps LaFamilia maximize available resources in pursuit of its mission.
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