2024 Hispanic and Latinx Leaders Shaping the Greater Boston and New England Startup Scene

Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated in the United States from September 15 through October 15. At the core of the Boston and New England startup scene, you’ll find incredibly driven, passionate and accomplished folks from the Hispanic and Latinx communities. They’re investors, founders and community leaders. We’re excited to acknowledge the visionary men and women who are making their mark and taking the region’s startup scene to new heights. Their contributions are breaking barriers, shaping the future and supporting the community around them.

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with These Startup Leaders

Adrian Mendoza (Founder and General Partner, Mendoza Ventures) — With his wife, Senofer, Adrian launched Mendoza Ventures — the first Latinx-founded venture capitalist firm on the East Coast. Diversity plays an important role in the firm’s investment decisions, with 90% of their portfolio made up of startups led by immigrants, people of color and women. Along with Mendoza Ventures, the family launched Mendoza Impact, a philanthropic initiative to help fund diverse and female founders and fund managers. 

Alberto Vasallo III (President and CEO, El Mundo Media) - With over 50 years of serving the Hispanic community, Alberto founded El Mundo, the longest running and most trusted Latino publication in New England. Known for organizing The Latino Career Expo and Professional Mixer, The Latino 30 Under 30 and El Mundo Boston Small Business Summits.

Amanda Fernandez (Founder and CEO, Latinos for Education) - As the founder of Latinos for Education, Amanda's mission is to develop, place and connect essential Latino leadership in the education sector.

Betty Francisco (CEO, Boston Impact Initiative) — For Betty, joining the Boston Impact Initiative (BII) gave her an opportunity to combine all of her experiences as a lawyer, advocate, community builder and business leader all in one place. BII is a non-profit impact investing fund that helps entrepreneurs of color and their communities have the financial, social and political power to create a sustainable, inclusive and equitable economy for the future. Betty’s other efforts include co-founding Amplify Latinx. 

Dahiana Duarte Pena (Board Advisor, Invest in Girls and Board Director, One Bead) — Employing her background and work in fintech, Dahiana serves as a board member for Invest in Girls (acquired by the Council for Economic Education) and board director for One Bead. Invest in Girls teaches financial literacy to young girls, and One Bead introduces entrepreneurship skills in communities of color. 

David Delmar Sentíes (Entrepreneur, Author, Founder and Board Member of Resilient Coders) — David is an artist, author and social entrepreneur, focusing on economic justice in tech. He’s the founder of Resilient Coders, a highly competitive, free and stipend not-for-profit coding bootcamp. The mission at Resilient Coders is the belief in social justice through economic empowerment, and we all have a moral and economic imperative to create pathways to automation-resilient careers in our Black and Latinx communities. 

Eneida Roman (President and CEO, Amplify Latinx) — Eneida is a seasoned and highly respected business leader with national recognition for her work in advancing women and Latinos across numerous sectors. A co-founder of Amplify Latinx, she places a strong emphasis on racial and ethnic equity, working to create opportunities and drive meaningful change for Latinos. Amplify Latinx is building the most robust Latino network in the Commonwealth and advocating for policies that positively impacts its community. Eneida is also a governor appointee to the Massachusetts Governor’s Latino Empowerment Council and the Massachusetts Workforce Training Advisory Board. 

Ignacio Castro (Founder, 128vc and Funding Lab Investor-in-Residence, Founder Institute) — Throughout his career, Ignacio has taken on numerous roles to support early-stage startups and founders. As founder of 128vc, he supports AI/ML founders as they scale their companies by connecting them with experienced operators, smart sources of capital and other founders. In his work at the Founder Institute, Ignacio has coached and mentored founders to help them shape their company vision, work on their business and go-to market strategy, fund-raising and more.

Joe Falcão (EVP, CFO, Orva; Angel Investor, Walnut Ventures & TiE Global Angels; Board Members, MIT Sloan CFO Summit) - Joe is a seasoned CFO with over 25 years of experience in financial strategy, corporate turnaround, and scaling companies across various industries, including consumer, healthcare, telecom, and chemicals. He has a strong track record in capital raises, M&A, and driving operational improvements, with global experience in countries like Brazil, Belgium, Malaysia, and more. Notable achievements include negotiating $950MM in debt, raising $1.6B in equity, and achieving unicorn status for a company in two years.

Liday Rengifo (Director of Small Business Program, Amplify Latinx) — Liday is a seasoned professional with more than 25 years of experience in monetizing and accelerating business growth. In her role with Amplify Latinx, Liday consistently strives to boost business productivity, optimize operations, implement effective management models and create marketing and digital transformation strategies. 

Maria Vasco (Founder and CEO, Uvida Shop) — Implementing her own efforts to save the planet, Maria is the founder of Uvida Shop, Boston’s first and only zero-waste store. With a storefront in Brookline and an online business, Uvida offers plastic-free home essentials — eco-friendly alternatives to single-use plastic products. After winning UMass Boston’s entrepreneur scholarship in 2019, Maria started her business with pop-ups on campus and then throughout New England. Soon after graduating in 2020, she opened her first physical site in December 2020.  

Natalia Hilton (ALPFA Boston President) - Natalia is a bilingual, bi-cultural executive with 20 years of experience leading strategy and transformation projects in customer service, operations, risk management, and project management for global financial institutions like Bank of America, Banco Santander, State Street, and Nationwide. She is a collaborative, results-driven leader with a growth mindset, known for challenging the status quo while respecting cultural norms. As President of ALPFA Boston, Natalia mentors board members and supports Boston's Latinx community, empowering them with resources for personal and professional success.

Oliver Sanchez (CEO, Cofounder and Head of Product, Extrasense Tech; Partner & Invester, AccelHUB Venture Partners) - Oliver is the CEO and Co-Founder of Extrasense Tech, a company that develops software to track and report pest activity in industrial and residential settings. Currently, the company is piloting with two Fortune 500 companies. He is also the Co-Founder of AccelHUB, which helps international tech startups expand in the Boston area. AccelHUB launched a flagship program for Mexican startups in 2018 and has supported over 50 startups through its soft landing programs.

Senofer Mendoza (Founder and General Partner, Mendoza Ventures) — After a career in enterprise sales and hospitality design, Senofer founded Mendoza Ventures with her husband, Adrian. Mendoza Ventures is a pre-seed fintech, AI and cybersecurity venture capital firm, focusing on the growing funding gap during this investment stage. Along with Mendoza Ventures, Senofer is a published author, innovator and thought leader in the technology, startup and venture capital space with a passion for diversity and equity. 

Stephanie Castaños (Community Engagement Director, Resilient Coders) — In her role, Stephanie supports students and alumni in their job searches and careers after they wrap up their time at Resilient Coders. Her efforts include offering professional development classes. Stephanie is also a board member of The Majira Project, a non-profit working on enabling growth for small businesses and startups led by founders of color. 

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Kathleen Ohlson is a Boston-based content writer with a background as a high-tech reporter and storyteller. With a passion for creating content that resonates with audiences, you can connect with her on LinkedIn.