Since she began her career in her 20’s, Lorinda Gonzalez always knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur. She now has a passion for supporting other entrepreneurs who are making an impact in their communities.
“We work in a way that we’re actually supporting organizations, businesses and nonprofits in a way that they need it,” Gonzalez said.
Through her business Grants Ink, she has focused on helping provide over $17 million in grants for non-profits and purpose-based businesses.
“When you see that they get those funds, whether it’s a little bit of funds or a lot, and you see the changes that they have in the individual’s lives, it just feels good,” said Gonzalez.
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Gonzalez assists businesses with grant writing and classes as she doesn’t want funding to be a barrier for those who have a vision. The Boricua is also proud of her Puerto Rican heritage. Her father worked with Tito Puentes and she grew up surrounded by her culture. Gonzalez wants to see more Hispanic professionals succeeding.
“Being a Latina, being Hispanic, and being a business owner; it’s something that you don’t see as often as you should. I feel like diversity and we all have these different backgrounds, it brings such beauty to the business and it helps us really resonate and connect with people,” said Gonzalez.
Before she got her organization off the ground, Gonzalez had some assistance.
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“I met Lorinda at a workshop and started counseling her and it’s really been fantastic,” said Ricardo Casas, a mentor with SCORE Miami Dade.
SCORE is a business management consultant non-profit that educates start-ups, small businesses and entrepreneurs in Miami-Dade. Casas is one of 10,000 volunteers nationwide who advise business owners with trainings, workshops and webinars on topics like business plans, marketing, public relations, operations and more. These volunteer services are also free of charge.
“The benefit is that they can talk to somebody outside the company that can give them some opinion, suggestion and advice,” said Casas. “There are so many persons from Latin America coming to Miami to try and establish their own business so I wanted to give back to the community and this is why I joined SCORE.”
Thanks to their collaboration, Gonzalez continues to thrive and even teaches workshops at SCORE to continue this cycle of businesses boosting up other businesses.
SCORE is looking for business saavy volunteers. More information can be found on their website.
