Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | January 23, 2023 | Worcester Business Journal 11 office space. CENTRO Inc., a minority-led, community-based nonprofit in Worcester, is one physical place already existing with a goal of supporting self-sufficiency in the community. e PG Collaborative seeks to not be in competition with pre-existing organizations, but to add something more, said Zolezzi-Wyndham. "ere is something to be said of a need for additional space, no doubt," said Juan Gomez, president and CEO of CENTRO. is need exists despite the issue of diversity and inclusion entering conversations at increasing rates since George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police in 2020. "ere is a move to acknowledge disparities in communities of color as related to access to capital and opportunities to build, but the problems in accessing them are still there," said Gomez. Curran expects to build relationships with other entrepreneurs at the PG Collaborative, something she said has been a struggle in many business circles as a Black woman. "For a long time, when I was trying to get this business off the ground, I did connect with a lot of entrepreneurs," she said, "but I have always felt isolated and like there were topics I could not work through in those spaces." Curran specifically called out the lack of capital funding given to women of color, and how fellow entrepreneurs did not understand the motivation behind her company: to break down barriers for women like her. Every conversation, she said, would have to begin by estab- lishing why the work was necessary. "Here, I can skip that part and get to what I'm doing," she said. A place for community Beyond serving as simply a work- place, PG Collaborative will perma- nently house Casita Cultural Latina, a cultural organization of which Zolezzi-Wynham is a founding board member. e group hosts events and seeks to be a unifying force in the Latino community in Worcester. Casita regularly commissions artwork from members of the community, and the PG Collaborative will offer that art a permanent home. is place won't be the first location for a community center of this kind in Worcester, but many that were once strongholds are no longer there. "Casita is standing on the shoulders of so much work that the Latino community has done in Worcester," said Raquel Castro, a co-founder of Casita. Castro grew up in the Main South neighborhood and remembers amazing programming offered by community centers in her childhood. "ere were uniting spaces for new immigrant families," she said. ose spaces connected generations of people based on shared language and cultural background, but those kinds of places are now lacking. Castro's family doesn't know where to go for community-centered events, she said. Having a "literal space really does help cultivate the emotional connections we are looking to create," Castro said. PG Collaborative will allow other business owners to do the same and have a professional place to take calls, host meetings, and invite clients. A general lack of coworking spaces, not just for people of color, in the city means many business owners take calls on the go and from their cars, said Zolezzi-Wyndham. Curran is excited for the opportunity to have somewhere to bring clients and host her cohort, but she is particularly excited that Zolezzi-Wyndam is leading it. "Valerie is so good at what she does," said Curran. "She knows very well how to set up a space that is welcoming, open, vibrant, and inclusive." Promoting Good, Zolezzi-Wynd- ham's business, partners with clients to teach equity leadership and ensure im- plementation of specific plans for busi- nesses to better perform in the areas of diversity and inclusion, with clients such as UMass Memorial Health, the largest employer in Central Massachu- setts. Her five-step model for building a better workplace includes customized plans, enactment, and monitoring of how a company reacts to the DEI work. Now in its fih year, Promoting Good and its employees are fully remote, something Zolezzi-Wyndham hopes to change with her vision of a dual com- munity center and coworking incubator. A place of their own e opening date for the PG Collaborative is still up in the air. Real estate has been more of a challenge than expected, Zolezzi-Wyndham said, but ownership is still the bar to be met. She still is on the hunt for the physical space, which she wants to be in downtown Worcester, although Zolezzi- Wyndham declined to share how much she is willing to pay for the home of the PG Collaborative. "We are so oen in borrowed spaces where we are not able to set the rules," said Zolezzi-Wyndam. "It's important for the community for real estate to be owned by a person of color." Zolezzi-Wyndam expects to earn revenue on the space via rent from tenants, as well as utilizing it for events such as quinceañeras. Zolezzi-Wyndam wants to use the space to grow her own company, too, and launch a DEI training program for the public. Castro echoes Zolezzi-Wynham on the importance of owning the space. While Casita has partnered with other organizations advantageously, she said, having somewhere that is not controlled by another business will be an affirming change. "All those spaces come with negotiating how much of our identity can be on display," said Castro. "It's frustrating to hear: We love what you're doing, until Friday. We love the art, but please don't let it touch our stuff. We love the community being here; please make sure they leave by five o'clock." Showcasing elsewhere means the Casita artists and community members live by the whims of others, she said. e PG Collaborative will allow for the autonomy they have been needing and missing. City of Worcester 23.9% Worcester County 12.8% Massachusetts 12.8% United States 18.9% Latino population Source: United States Census Bureau, 2021 W Zolezzi-Wyndham wants the PG Collaborative to be a place of mutual support for entrepreneurs of color. PHOTO | EDD COTE

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