Radical Partners

I’m applying because, just like you, I believe we need to shine a light on local heroes and amplify the good by breaking silos. As the new leader of Radical Partners (RP), a social impact accelerator based in Miami, I have the opportunity to scale our local collaborative model.

Our mission is to invest in leaders, engage locals, build coalitions, and co-design innovative solutions to make communities stronger collectively. In my new role, I leverage lessons from my global career to tackle fundamental inefficiencies that prevent social innovators from solving community issues and locals from accessing the right tools and information to transform their cities.

The Elevate Prize funding would allow us to synthesize our proven model in Miami and expand it to at least 3 cities across the nation. Locally, our Leadership Development programs, including Leadership Lab, Social Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, and Strategic Planning Summit, have scaled 120+ social ventures. Our signature collective impact initiative, the 10 Days of Connection, has reached 200,000 locals and engaged 200+ organizations. 

You could help RP to become a $1M Certified B Corporation with the power to scale these initiatives and transform social impact ecosystems in Miami and elsewhere.

As a proud Latina, I witnessed inequality from a very early age. I also have the privilege of challenging it. I am a trained Clinical Psychologist with a Masters in International NGOs who has spent 15 years leveraging her talents to uplift the voices of marginalized leaders and build bridges between different types of power to solve complex societal challenges. 

Before moving to Miami, I lived in the Netherlands, Costa Rica, Chile, and Guatemala, working for all types of social impact ventures: nonprofits, universities, and UN Women. Communities in need are everywhere; disjointed efforts to help them are too. At RP, I combine my passion for equity with my experience leading teams and mobilizing diverse communities to evolve social innovation ecosystems.

I assumed the role of Executive Director in 2020, and my goal is to shepherd our organization into the future so that we can build effective and accessible systems of social change. I will continue to grow leaders and connect organizations through RP and also as a board member of The Women's Fund of Miami-Dade, a co-founder of F*up Nights, an active alum of Global Shapers, and my role in dozens of other social impact networks.

People across the U.S. have become increasingly divided. Incidents of hate have increased, and tolerance for differing ideas has decreased. This has intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, a racial justice reckoning, and divisive presidential elections. This connection gap impedes community progress.

South Florida also faces challenges, from income inequality to climate change. The result is a region with shocking economic disparity that affects our black and brown communities disproportionately. Furthermore, a 2017 report by The Building Movement Project illuminated: “the percentage of people of color in nonprofit leadership has not moved in over a decade”. 

To accelerate change on these challenges, our region needs a base of skilled leaders driving collaborative social innovations for and by their communities. In Miami-Dade alone, 800+ nonprofits tackle these challenges in a disconnected way. 

Radical Partners is a Miami-based social impact accelerator powered by multicultural women. We address these problems through our leadership accelerator and collective impact initiatives. We’ve delivered 14+ high-quality leadership programs; this year we’ll invest in changemakers of color addressing racial equity and social justice. We also spearhead the 10 Days of Connection, an annual initiative that has galvanized 200+ organizations and engaged 200,000+ locals to combat hate.

We tackle big problems differently. Our organization was built to be nimble and collaborative. We evolve with communities and co-design tailored initiatives to tackle societal challenges. We zoom out where others can’t, identify gaps in the social impact ecosystem, and connect dots to create unparalleled collective impact.  

For example, in 2016, we responded to unprecedented levels of election-related hate and discrimination by creating the 10 Days of Connection for people to come together and have hard conversations to increase empathy and understanding. In 2020, we saw the need to center the growth of grassroots BIPOC leaders and developed a capacity-building program for and by them. By investing in their skills and helping them access spaces and resources they previously did not, we build their power and capacity for change. 

Additionally, we see social impact initiatives fall short of their desired impact because there is a lack of capacity and collaboration. Unhealthy competition and duplication are often the result of these impediments, and they slow progress further. We work in partnership with community actors (large and small) to address inefficiencies, identify synergies, and accelerate progress. This is why we call Radical Partners a social impact accelerator. Impact over ego, always.

Radical Partners is having an impact because we create change from within. We seek not to run programs but to change systems by addressing root causes. We don’t venerate existing power structures; we work collaboratively to evolve them.

As a leader, I’m inspired by the six conditions of systems change; we focus on mobilizing resources, shifting power dynamics, and transforming mental models. We have mobilized over $5,000,000 into scaling the work of 120+ leaders who are addressing issues like housing affordability, climate change, and educational equity. We have gathered 200+ organizations to host 200+ events that break down silos and challenged over 200,000 locals to connect across lines of difference. We have strategically partnered with 20+ philanthropists and corporations to guide their investments to where they’re needed most.  

We believe that this impact is felt beyond those we reach directly and scales exponentially into the communities they serve. As alum and Maven Leadership Collective Executive Director, Corey Davis, attested, “Radical Partners provided necessary access to a strong professional network, skills development, and funding—three of the leading determinants of success for social entrepreneurs of color...”

We fuel change-makers. And we're ready to fuel thousands more.