Latorra Monk

Founder of Oaklandia Cafe

Alliance worked with Latorra briefly in February 2021 for Covid Navigation, from which she was recommended to the POC Small Business Network in March 2021. Since that time, we’ve worked with Latorra to apply for and secure funding from various city, state, federal and private funding opportunities for her business, which have helped to offload upfront expenses related to payroll, utilities, equipment, and marketing support. Latorra’s business has been featured in multiple Alliance publications, and even catered an Alliance team event in 2021. As her business has grown, we’ve referred pro-bono legal support to help her stay in compliance as well as place-based funding opportunities to help her stay rooted in Oakland.

Despite the pandemic’s impact on her business, Latorra has not lost her vision and driving motivation for her cafe. As a 4th generation Oaklander, she created her cafe to challenge social expectations of who cafes are for, creating a space of belonging through food inclusivity. By utilizing her skills and talents, as well as those of her staff and community, she’s helping to create a new wave of Black and Brown owned cafes as a foundation for cultivating generational wealth. Ultimately, her goal is to partner with the community to create more opportunities for other entrepreneurs of color in Oakland.