Name: Founder Fireside: Latinx Entrepreneurs
Start: 2024-10-15T16:00:00-07:00
End: 2024-10-15T18:00:00-07:00
Location: UC San Diego - The Basement (Design & Innovation Building, 1st Floor)

In celebration of Latinx Heritage Month, The Basement and Chicanx and Latinx Studies present a special edition of Founder Fireside
About this Event

About the Founder Fireside series:

Launching a business or social enterprise is challenging—it requires time, resources, and persistence. Join us at The Basement for Founder Fireside, where UC San Diego alumni founders return to campus to share their successes, struggles, and everything in between. This is a unique opportunity to learn from their journeys and connect with fellow entrepreneurs who are passionate about making a positive impact on society.

Event Description:

In celebration of Latinx Heritage Month, The Basement has partnered with Chicanx and Latinx Studies to present a special edition of Founder Fireside, highlighting Latinx alumni founders. We’re excited to feature the entrepreneurial journeys of three alumni who have launched businesses across diverse industries. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear their inspiring stories and enter for a chance to win raffle prizes*!

Free samples of Kuali’s Salsa Macha Clásica provided to the first 20 attendees!

*Prizes only available for current UC San Diego students

About the Panelists:

Alyssa Perez ‘13 | Founder & CEO, APE Structural Engineering |

Born and raised in Santa Barbara, California, Alyssa always had a deep-rooted love and appreciation for construction and design. As a kid, she spent countless hours building forts, playing with LEGOs, and roller coaster tycoon. Growing up Mexican-American, Alyssa admired many members in my family and community working in the construction industry.

After graduating from the University of California, San Diego, with a Bachelor of Science in Structural Engineering, Alyssa gained valuable experience working for various structural engineering firms in San Francisco and San Diego. These experiences solidified my passion for custom home design and construction.

Recognizing the growing gap between technological advancements and traditional engineering practices, Alyssa and her business partner saw an opportunity to create an engineering firm that would leverage cutting-edge technology to deliver exceptional results. With a focus on efficiency, sustainability, and innovation, they founded APE Structural Engineering over four years ago.

Today, their firm is dedicated to providing top-tier structural engineering services for custom homes and other building types, ensuring that each project is not only structurally sound but also aesthetically pleasing and environmentally responsible.

Rosa Teresa Valdes ‘12 | Founder & CEO, Educated Chola |

Growing up in South East Los Angeles, Rosa struggled with crippling anxiety and depression without being able to identify them. Even after completing her Master's degree at NYU graduate school in Public Administration, Rosa still had not officially been medically diagnosed with having a mental health disorder.

It was through this graduate school experience, along with the other adversities faced in her upbringing as a first-generation Latina from a single-parent household with a low socioeconomic background on top of the social stigma of mental health within the Latinx community, that she knew she was not the only one facing this issue.

Educated Chola is a Latina lifestyle brand based in LA, with a unique twist, focused on mental health/salud mental. Through Educated Chola, Rosa is sharing her personal struggles with the goal of reaching those in the Latinx community by beginning a dialogue about mental health because it has yet to be seen. Rosa aims to help individuals embrace mental health concerns and struggles within the Latinx community encouraging others to take a break and still be a 'successful' person, despite the pressure of unattainable social expectations.

Janeen Mendoz Perez ‘11 | CEO, Kuali LLC |

Janeen Mendoza Cruz is a proud Latina entrepreneur and co-founder of Kuali, an artisanal salsa brand based in Oakland, CA. Drawing on her Mexican heritage and her husband’s family recipes, Janeen has transformed a homemade salsa side hustle into a thriving business that ships nationwide and is carried by 10 retailers. Prior to launching Kuali, Janeen spent over a decade in the nonprofit and philanthropy sectors, advocating for communities of color. Frustrated by systemic barriers, she left that world to build her own legacy through entrepreneurship.

Janeen graduated from UC San Diego’s Marshall College in 2011, earning a double major in economics and Latin American studies. As a daughter of Mexican immigrants and a first-generation college graduate, her business reflects her passion for celebrating cultural authenticity and building generational wealth. Kuali, meaning “good” or “quality” in Nahuatl, carries her vision of honoring her roots by creating products that stay true to Mexican flavors without compromising for mainstream tastes.

In addition to running her business, Janeen is a dedicated advocate for Latina entrepreneurship, sharing her experiences and insights on navigating the complexities of small business ownership. Her work has been featured in publications like The 19th News and the company was recently nationally recognized with a Good Food Award for their signature salsa macha.

Directions to The Basement

This event is located on the first floor of the . The entrances are located across from the or next to the bus and trolley stop.

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MTS Trolley

The easiest way to get to the DIB is by taking the MTS trolley UC San Diego Blue Line and getting off at the UC San Diego Central Campus stop. The trolley stop is a short 1 minute walk to the DIB.

Parking

Public transportation is highly recommended as parking is limited on campus. If you plan to drive to campus, please give yourself plenty of time. You can download the ParkMobile app to pay for your space digitally once you find a spot.