Manos a la obra: Hispanic Impact Fund boosts Latino businesses

​​Hispanics are not only the largest demographic in the Lone Star State, they’ve shaped culture deep in the heart of Texas for centuries.

According to research conducted by Opportunity Austin, Latinos are already the largest demographic group in Texas, with 40.6 percent of the population. By 2060, they are expected to account for nearly half of all Texans and one out of four Americans.

Despite that, statewide, Latinos remain underrepresented as business owners and have lower incomes than white, Asian, and Black Texans. This isn’t a new problem, and it’s why in 2017 the Austin Community Foundation created the Hispanic Impact Fund. In 2018, that fund awarded $180,000 to six nonprofits that proved they could improve the lives of Hispanic families across Central Texas. Last year, the fund distributed $550,000 to 16 nonprofits, targeting four impact areas: jobs skills and entrepreneurship, early childhood education, leadership development, and health and wellness.

“Latinos are such a huge part of the population,” Austin Community Foundation Senior Manager Adiee Gonzales told Austin Free Press. “If they’re thriving, the entire community thrives.”

Every dollar distributed by the Hispanic Impact Fund helps remove a generational barrier to success, she said. Every nonprofit selected for funding tells a unique story. Here are a few.

Taking care of business

One of the Hispanic Impact Fund’s first recipients back in 2018 was the Economic Growth Business Incubator, which continued to receive funding in 2025.

It’s not hard to see why the business incubator was chosen. Using the Community Foundation’s 2025 “Advancing Latino Futures” report as a guide, the fund’s grant committee found that Hispanics in Central Texas were least likely to be employed in management, business, science, and arts occupations, with only 33.1 percent of Hispanics working in those areas compared to 71.1 percent of Asians, 52.6 percent of whites, and 37.6 percent of Blacks.

In contrast, Latinos were overrepresented in the service industry, with 20.5 percent employed there compared to 9 percent of Asians, 12.9 percent of whites, and 17.5 percent of Blacks.

Only 9.5 percent of the companies surveyed were owned by Hispanics.

To help improve that last statistic, the Economic Growth Business Incubator offers low-cost workshops in English and Spanish that teach future moguls how to create strong business plans, manage finances, utilize marketing and social media, and track success. They also offer free business coaching.

Their clients include everyone from high school seniors jumpstarting their first small business to senior citizens looking for technology training. In 2025, the business incubator served 629 business owners. More than half of the entrepreneurs they assist are Hispanic.

In 2018, the Hispanic Impact Fund gave the business incubator $10,000; last year they were granted $22,000. Director of Community Relations Monica Peña told Austin Free Press that the incubator uses the funds to hire more employees and expand Spanish-language services.

“The business owners we serve are assets,” said Peña. “They create jobs, help families send kids to college, and build generational wealth.”

One such business owner is Maria E. Dominguez, who expanded a small daycare she ran out of her home to three campuses across Austin. Thanks to incubator classes on Quickbooks and bank loan coaching, Cielito Lindo Spanish Immersion Preschool grew from one teacher and four students in 2020 to 24 teachers and more than 100 children in 2025.

“Our school doesn’t just teach Spanish,” said Dominguez. “We enrich the diversity and culture of our community.”

Best education is free

Dominguez isn’t the only educator who thinks knowledge is power.

The Todos Juntos Learning Center received the Hispanic Impact Fund’s $55,500 general operating grant last year.

Center Executive Director Christina Collazo is committed to educating multigenerational families through four core programs: adult education, early childhood education, mental health and wellness, and family support.

The “Advancing Latino Futures” report shows that just 40 percent of Latino children are kindergarten ready. The numbers increase by 10 percent when Spanish-speaking families are given English learning skills. Furthermore, Hispanic mothers in Central Texas are more likely than any other group to be their heads of household. One in three of those Hispanic households live below the poverty line.

“Our primary focus is on helping mothers enter school or the workforce and helping kids get ready for school,” said Collazo. “We know that one of the primary barriers is child care, which is why we provide child care at no cost to the parents who enroll.”

Collazo added that the Hispanic Impact Fund’s grant does more than keep programming free for 180 to 200 adults and 65 children – valued at $2,263 per adult and $10,000 per child each year.

“The Hispanic Fund lends a level of credibility and visibility,” said Collazo. “It helps us get through the front door of donors and partners we might not have had access to.”

Closing justice gaps

Latinos also lack access to becoming leaders in the legal field.

In 2017, then-president of the Hispanic National Bar Association Erica V. Mason warned that low numbers of Latino lawyers was a “huge problem,” asserting that “every aspect of society is impacted by lawmakers, politicians, judges, prosecutors, public defenders, and in-house corporate attorneys who make policies that companies follow.”

As of 2025, only 5.89 percent of lawyers nationwide were Hispanic.

Federal data shows that Hispanics make up 42 percent of US prisoners despite being only 20 percent of the population and committing crimes at lower rates than their white counterparts.

Youth Justice Alliance Executive Director Armin Salek wants to reverse those trends by forging pathways for first-generation lawyers who “have experienced being on the wrong side of the justice gap.”

Since 2021, the alliance has provided 8 to 24 young applicants per year with paid legal training, judicial observations, internships at legal service nonprofits, access to LSAT support, and law school admissions guidance. The program is open to all graduating high school seniors who are aspiring first-generation lawyers. While they are not limited based on race or gender, a majority are Hispanic and female.

The Hispanic Impact Fund twice denied the Youth Justice Alliance before awarding the organization $55,500 last year. Salek says each dollar invested means more money passed down to students for college tuition, meals, housing, and experiential learning.

“This is life changing work,” Salek said. “Not only can they use this program to transform their own financial status and create transgenerational wealth, they become changemakers.”

Health is wealth

Another area the Hispanic Impact Fund aims to transform is healthcare.

One in four employed Hispanic Central Texans lack health insurance coverage, about double the rate of other demographics. Hispanics are also 75 percent more likely to have diabetes than whites. Latina teen birth rates are nearly four times higher, Latinos are less likely to receive treatment for substance abuse, and they are more likely to die from cancer or stroke.

Working to address these problems is the Volunteer Healthcare Clinic, which has been supported by the Hispanic Impact Fund since the fund began.

For 60 years, the clinic has offered free primary care for acute conditions, chronic disease management, and dermatology, cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, nutritional, rheumatology, pediatric, and mental health services.

It serves uninsured Travis County residents living less than 200 percent below the federal poverty income level, a majority of whom are Hispanic.

Clinic Executive Director Marci Roe says the nonprofit is lucky to recruit approximately 400 volunteers per year. Providing healthcare to 4,700 patient visits at no cost is always a challenge – especially in 2026.

Since the January 1 expiration of the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, the price of healthcare has skyrocketed nationwide. In Texas, Affordable Care Act insurers have raised monthly premiums by 35 percent.

Roe foresees “an increase in demand for services from people who have never had to turn to a free clinic,” which is why she’s grateful for this year’s Hispanic Impact Fund investment of $55,500.

“There’s a shortage of organizations meeting the needs of Latinas,” said Gonzales. “Our organizations are creating progress that starts at an early age and builds throughout a lifetime.”