Blanca Catalina Garcia teaches entrepreneurship. She’s a mentor and leader who helps people with diverse stories - especially Latinas - feel supported to grow and thrive. She speaks English, Spanish, French and Portuguese and she grew up both in Chile and the US. She shares with us how she uses her multicultural experience to create community connections and for building bridges between bubbles.
“As a Latina woman, my person in any given place is tied to so many other things. My identity as a mother, as a leader in my social and family network, all of those things are deeply connected and an important part of anything else that I am doing.” – Blanca Catalina Garcia
Blanca describes her work supporting women founders of color and tells us what goes into cultivating safe learning spaces. She talks about her approach to teaching entrepreneurship which involves encourages people to bring their whole selves to the experience and to trust themselves. (1:34)
She talks about her parents’ path from Chile to the US and growing up between two cultures. She shares her experience with the differences between Latino cultures, specifically between her Chilean Andean background and Caribbean cultures predominant in Miami. (9:58)
Working with youth in Florida led her to use innovative methods like combining creative art and entrepreneurship. (14:52)
Adela asks Blanca to describe her approach to bridge building. She talks about silos and languages and how important it is to find people within these worlds or ‘bubbles’ who are willing and ready and help them connect with each other and ‘build the bridge’ to learning and opportunities. (18:00)
Blanca talks about experiencing the South as a Latina. She talks about a deep sense of commonality and warmth which has become a ‘need to have’ for her. On the other hand, the city of Atlanta seems fractured and there is a need for moving past our neighborhood lines and connecting with each other. She challenges those who might be comfortable and not open to change – how much work does it take to maintain your reality? It is not necessarily more work, it just might just feel easier out of habit. (25:09)
Blanca’s message to the Latinas of the South: We are so powerful. Let’s find each other and connect. We are on the rise. (32:30)
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