Meet the Team
Hi, I'm Delila Vasquez (She/Her)
I was born in Ecuador and grew up in the capital supporting my grandmother’s restaurant until when my mother brought me to Los Angeles. Through my late teens I went to school and worked part-time with my mother. My mother runned a small sewing business from home. She would contract with the clothing factories and distribute work through her network. She organized women to work from home, she guided women to either rent or buy sewing machines to work from home. Her mission was to teach women that they could work at their own pace and without the stress of having a supervisor over their shoulders. Her small business paid for my first two years at a private university.
I have an M.A. in leadership and organizational studies. I have supported large and medium size federally funded Head Start Programs throughout Southern California. I have developed programs and services for families in Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. My training in leadership and organizational studies helped me connect with the business world and eventually develop my own home business, DeMi Cocina. Through this business, I conducted cooking classes, offered a dinner menu for working families, and presented healthy alternatives.
In the last ten years, I have supported the development of the National Latina Business Women in the Inland Empire, where I served as a board member and later as vice president. I have developed training sessions with SMG Business Services for Spanish-speaking small business owners. I have trained small business owners in Spanish and English for the Camara de Comercio Hispana de Pomona, Project Thrive, and independently in collaboration with SMG Business Services.
In the past year I developed a podcast for women, called Cafecito Con… where every day, successful women can talk about business, life, achievements, and womanhood. This podcast is now a partnership with Cal. State University San Bernardino and will be part of their YouTube Channel Programming. In addition, I am in the middle of developing a podcast for Spanish-speaking small business owners in collaboration with SMG Business Services. This podcast, called Pa’Lante, will be made available before the end of the year (2022).
