This spotlight is part of the “PLACE Builders fellows” series. More information about the PLACE (Pava LaPere Award for Cultivating Ecosystems) Builders fellowship can be found here.
Paco Ramos-Meyer
Mideast Region
Mideast fellow, Paco Ramos-Meyer, is the Columbia Heights & Mount Pleasant Main Street Manager and supports local business through events, direct technical assistance, and access to resources, both funding and connections. Having seen firsthand how hard it is for Latino business owners, Paco is passionate about making small business ownership more sustainable in one of the most transient, rapidly-changing parts of Washington D.C.
"I am passionate about both preserving and enhancing this area's vibrancy."
Paco Ramos-Meyers
The goal is to forge a long-term partnership between young bilingual residents and local businesses, specifically to harness the former’s language and literacy skills to lift up business owners. He aims to set up a self-sustaining program where the high schools and institutions would have an established pipeline, creating a direct connection to the local businesses to offer this opportunity. In addition to the benefits that the small businesses would receive, Paco hopes that “the interns would also be more connected to their local business community and learn a great deal about owning and running a business in their city. Who knows, they may themselves own a business in our neighborhood down the line!”
Meet the other PLACE Builders fellows:
Inspired by the legacy of Pava LaPere, forever Chief Ecosystem Officer and Co-Founder of EcoMap Technologies, as a tribute to her legacy of fighting for equal access to opportunity, the PLACE (Pava LaPere Award for Cultivating Ecosystems) Builders fellowship aims to catalyze more equitable entrepreneurial ecosystems by providing intensive training, peer support, and community pilots to eight selected fellows.