Hello and welcome to our blog!

 In General

My name is Liz Gamboa and I’m the Assistant Director here at New Mexico Community Capital (NMCC). We’re coming up towards the end of refreshing our site, logo, and look and hope you like the new us. We’ll be updating this page regularly with content written by our staff, mentors, and current participants in our Native Entrepreneur in Residence (NEIR) program. There’s also a group of 35 NEIR graduates that might make an appearance here, too. Actually, you’ll never know who might appear on this very page.

Many of us attended the 2nd Annual Native Women’s Business Summit (NWBS), organized by Native Women Lead, on April 5th and 6th. We came back feeling empowered, inspired, and informed after spending two days listening to wisdom and teachings from the elders, and real-world experience from those who participated in the many break-out sessions. If you have a chance to attend this event (scholarships are available), it’s a good idea to pencil it in for next spring. It’s worth the time.

Before NWBS, the Reservation Economic Summit (RES) took place March 25th – 28th. Three folks from NMCC presented at a workshop called “The Path of the Native Entrepreneur” which also featured Tina Archuleta, doing a live pitch for her business, Itality: Plant Based Wellness. Marie Thames, Vicki Pozzebon, and myself opened the two and a half hour workshop with the basics of a business plan. The second half featured Tina giving her business pitch, a requirement for completing the NEIR program.

Tina delivered her pitch like a pro, even though she just completed the NEIR program the month prior. The room was HUGE as it could easily seat several hundred people sitting at long banquet tables. There may have been six giant chandeliers in the room with faux gold gilding on almost every surface. It was held at Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, so there was plenty of glitz to go around. This could have thrown off a new entrepreneur making a business pitch but Tina completed her pitch AND also fielded questions from the audience. Excellent work, Tina!

The rest of RES was incredibly informative and we all made some new connections. We have some great ideas for next year’s presentation already!

The presenters from L to R: Liz, Marie, Tina, and Vicki

The presenters from L to R: Liz, Marie, Tina, and Vicki

 

We’ll be back soon. Thanks for reading.

 

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