Small Business Majority is enacting a comprehensive state policy agenda to ensure entrepreneurship is recognized as the lifeforce of a thriving and inclusive economy in California. Our state’s 4.1 million small businesses employ 7.5 million people, which amounts to nearly half of the private workforce.
Alberto Sanchez manages Small Business Majority’s outreach efforts in Southern California. In this role, Alberto develops relationships with business partners, small business owners and community leaders to promote small business growth in Southern California.
Gustavo Garcia Jr. contracted life-threatening viral meningitis as a child and ended up in the hospital as a result. But for Gustavo, something good came out of this experience: It inspired him to pursue a career in medicine and research. After studying immunology at the University of California, Berkeley, he went to work at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), during the Zika virus epidemic of 2015-2016, and played a vital role during the COVID-19 pandemic. His work at that time was instrumental to his career because it allowed him “to see the gap in preventative measures to combat these viral diseases,” Gustavo said.
Small Business Majority signed on to a letter with 15 other California organizations and advocates to support AB 3129 (Wood), which would extend the California Attorney General’s oversight authority to private equity and hedge fund acquisitions of healthcare facilities including hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and physician groups.
As a first generation immigrant who grew up in a community and household of blue collar entrepreneurs, Lori Shao always had an entrepreneurial spirit. Her parents’ grit and perseverance always inspired her, especially because immigrants often face unique challenges with starting small businesses. Some immigrant entrepreneurs must navigate language barriers and cultural divides, along with difficulty accessing the capital needed to launch and grow a business.
Working Solutions is a certified, nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). As the First to Believe in Small Business, Working Solutions makes affordable loans of $5,000-$100,000 accessible to start-up and early-stage entrepreneurs in California, and provides free business consulting in conjunction with every loan. Working Solutions is committed to connecting with communities that have historically not had access to capital, and specializes in serving lower-income individuals, women, and entrepreneurs of color.
On February 13, 2024, California Policy Director Bianca Blomquist testified before the Assembly Committee On Jobs, Economic Development and The Economy and Budget Subcommittee No. 5 to demonstrate the importance of equitable distribution of SSBCI dollars, and encourage the state’s continued investment in diverse technical assistance resources.
With a master’s degree in computer science, another master’s degree in information systems and an interdisciplinary PhD, Lisa Kaczmarczyk never planned on becoming an entrepreneur. After working in the tech industry as a developer, she transitioned into academia as a university faculty member teaching computer science where she also gained experience obtaining grants from the National Science Foundation. Lisa thought she would be doing this type of work forever.
On September 27, Small Business Majority joined the Responsible Business Lending Coalition in filing an amicus brief, alongside Public Counsel, U.C. Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice, California Association for Microenterprise Opportunity, and the Office of Kat Taylor, before the Central District of California in support of a California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) regulation requiring sales-based financing providers to disclosure their APRs and other costs to small business borrowers.
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