About Emilia Otero
 La Placita Founder, Emilia Otero |
Emilia Otero is a prominent community activist and business woman in Oakland. When Ms. Otero first came to Oakland in 1994, she quickly realized that there was a need for support and services in the Latino immigrant community. The need for good paying jobs was at the forefront of peoples concerns. To this end, Ms. Otero has continuously worked to find creative solutions to employment. On of her accomplishments was to organize ACAF, the very first Mobile Food Vendors Cooperative in the United States. |
Ms. Otero is also the spokesperson for ACPO – the merchant association for small businesses in Oaklands’ Fruitvale District. She organized the taco truck vendors in to their own organization with their own board of directors. She also launched Oakland’s first Day Labor program, working with local companies to provide full or part time employment for immigrant day laborers on a regular basis, as well as managing outside vendors and programs to provide services to the laborers.
La Placita is a natural extension to Ms. Otero’s commitment to supporting small business owners and helping multi-racial community members create and run profitable businesses of their own. As executive director of La Placita, Ms. Otero hope to create a thriving community resource that will serve all people of Fruitvale, surrounding east bay communities and the entire Bay Area.
She has received numerous awards, among them, the 2005 Woman of the year award with special recognition by California’s First Lady, Maria Shriver; California State Senate’s Certificate of Recognition (Women of Greatness) 2009, Certificate of Congressional Honor 2009, Certificate of Recognition – Model City Summit on Women 2009, Certificate of Honor from the General Consulate of Guatemala 2003, Certificate of Appreciation – LACC and Oakland Police Department 1999, Certificate of Achievement – Community Health Academy 1997.
Ms. Otero is featured in the Heritage Registry of Who’s Who (2006-2007 edition). The Heritage Registry selects and distinguishes individuals throughout North America who have attained a recognizable degree of success in their field of endeavor and thereby contributing to the growth of their industry.
In 2005, Oakland City Council proclaimed August 11 Emilia Otero Day.
Emilia’s Famous Quotes:
“Now is the time for all of us to come together as brothers and sisters of humanity, to break the social divides, learn from each other, help one another and begin structuring a new path that leads to self-sufficiency. Self sufficiency is the only real way to eradicate poverty and hunger.” – During the financial crash of 2008
“One of my goals in life is to help as many people as I can to take that first step because it is the hardest. With the right tools and support, the rest comes naturally to those that really want to succeed.” – 2009
“Dreamers are my favorite kind of people because they don’t see any limits and once they start working on their goals, nothing can stop them.” – 2008
“Our focus is not only helping the Latino community but people of all races. This is why I chose to establish the first branch of La Placita in Oakland. Oakland is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the country.” – 2010
“Our youth is our most valuable asset and we must make a joint effort to provide them with the type of knowledge they will require in this new millennium. American kids have all of the potential but none of the resources. If we don’t do something about this now, we risk becoming an insignificant nation in the next fifty years.” – 2006
“I talk to kids everyday, they come over to La Placita for the free WiFi so this gives me a chance to see whats going on in their young minds. Most of them know what they want, a decent education, better opportunities and so on but most of them are from poor families struggling to make ends meet. They can’t imagine paying for a full four years of college so they don’t even plan for it. There has to be a way to get more kids into college and I intend to find a solution.” – 2009 shortly before starting the Saving For College Program