Photo: Sylvia Rosales-Fike, CEO of A New America. Courtesy: KQED

Immigrants come in all colors, sizes and income brackets. Some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley are immigrants, and some of the poorest members of our society are immigrants, too. AnewAmerica’s goal is to enable refugees, asylees and immigrants who have minimal access to resources and capital -- people with no money and no connections – to become entrepreneurs in their new home country. The 10-year-old east bay organization has a three-year-long, three pronged training program that it says teaches clients about business incubation, asset building and social responsibility. For the first part, the organization, through a partnership with Oakland’s Holy Names University, educates its clients in creating a business plan, accounting, corporate structures, pricing, and marketing. Sylvia Rosales-Fike the founder and CEO of AnewAmerica, chatted with the OakBook about the other two prongs and her vision. Her community corporation celebrated its tenth anniversary last night with a gala at the Scottish Rite Center. Here are excerpts from our conversation with Ms. Rosales-Fike, who is an immigrant from El Salvador.

OB: You are the founder of AnewAmerica. How did you come up with the idea for such an organization?

Sylvia Rosales-Fike: I have been working in community development for low income neighborhoods and development for 27 years or more. I realized, along with other groups of professionals in the field, that the immigrant community in general had good services in legal and social services, but the economic development field was not targeting the immigrant population.

We decided on the name, a New America, to include immigrants, refugees, and new citizens. We wanted to denote to the general population that new Americans are also part of this society. We wanted to put together an organization that would help them increase income and build assets, wealth participation, and also encourage their participation in the democratic system.

The three areas are fully integrated -- business incubation, asset management and creation and social responsibility.

OB: Do you feel satisfied with your implementation of the vision you started out with? Or did that vision change over time?

Sylvia Rosales-Fike: The concept has really developed. The core strategy was to have three elements provided as services to families in the program as a holistic package. For example - when we started, we were not sure if social responsibility was going to be welcomed by every family. Sometimes people don’t understand the concept of giving back or by being active in a democratic system, there is power that comes back to you. What we learned is that they do get it. They embrace it enthusiastically. They’re planning or implementing socially responsible project, based on where they are in the program.

As we get to know the needs of entrepreneurs of the programs, and external situations -- we didn’t anticipate this recession -- we put together strategies.

With the recession, a major need for many clients was in sales. Some had been laid off from regular jobs, others were having foreclosures. (The situation) was affecting their economy and mental health. We had to put something together to respond to the situation. We needed to help them increase access to markets and access to sales. We created an e-commerce project in collaboration with World of Good, which is a subsidiary of eBay, and another group that provides technology training. We launched a pilot program with 10 entrepreneurs. You can purchase coffee, arts and crafts, and an ecological bag by going on line.


2009 Graduation ceremony of A New America's San Jose program

OB: Could you give me some other examples of how you have responded?

Sylvia Rosales-Fike: We have 10 clients housed in the Fruitvale incubator in the La Placita building. We decided to launch green business certification program. Those who provide certification right now, the requirements are very stringent for the very small entrepreneur. We mirrored the program that would help entrepreneurs meet requirements at a lower level, and as they grow, they can meet the other requirements. That allows them to reach that growing market of consumers that are interested in buying green products. We started in January. It’s growing rapidly. We have 20 businesses that are certified.

OB: In all these years, what is the achievement you’re proudest of?

Sylvia Rosales-Fike: We celebrate our tenth anniversary this year. Just the fact we’re here. We’ve been in re cession for three years. We’re still here. We have expanded our services, and infrastructure and not only in terms of locations and office spaces. We have offices in Oakland, San Jose, and Berkeley, where we started.
We started with 20 clients, and we’re now serving 300 clients per year. 180 graduates are successfully operating businesses and many of them are moving out of poverty. That’s how we measure success.  I think of a family that came here with no resources except for entrepreneurial energy, and six years later, making revenue of more than $300,000. They’re no longer micro, they’ve bought a house.

With our strategies of development – there is not only job training but also the asset creation piece. There is a holistic change in the well being of an individual. They look at themselves differently, they walk differently, they have a different outlook towards the future.

OB: The example you just gave of the family with no resources and now a revenue of $300,000, could you identify them?

Sylvia Rosales-Fike: Julio Leiva, who owns a green cleaning service. When he came into the program, his background was that he a business in his home country of El Salvador. He tried to see how he could start a business here. He took a class, was inspired to do a business that would not require much capital from him, a green business. It expanded from 0 to $300,000 in revenue from business. He has employed more than seven individuals; he has made a commitment to fair hiring practices, also a commitment to use non toxic materials, and he will send a proportion of profits to projects he cares about in his home country. 

Full disclosure: The OakBook was one of the media sponsors of A New America’s gala.