UCLA LPPI Briefs Highlights Challenges and Opportunities Priorities for Latina Entrepreneurs in California and Arizona 

LOS ANGELES (August 27, 2025) – The UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute (LPPI) has released two data briefs highlighting how Latina entrepreneurs in California and Arizona are navigating capital gaps, technology challenges, and climate risks in the post-COVID economy. In Arizona, the analysis is being co-published in partnership with the Arizona State University Center for Latina/os and American Politics Research (CLAPR). 

Drawing from LPPI’s 2022–2023 state surveys of small business owners, the data briefs are part of The Economic Recovery and Entrepreneurship Project (TEREP), an initiative of LPPI and the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge. This initiative equips LPPI Policy Fellows with the tools to shape data-driven solutions  to improve small business access to capital and technology, engagement in environmental sustainability planning and disaster preparedness.

Key shared findings amongst Latina small businesses that we surveyed in CA and AZ:

• Capital Access Barriers: Latina-owned businesses in both states face greater difficulty accessing capital than white women-owned businesses, with 45% in California and 32% in Arizona reporting challenges, compared to 26% and 25% for white women, respectively, citing low credit scores and insufficient funding as top barriers.
• Pandemic Recovery: Latina-owned businesses experienced more severe COVID-19 impacts, with 35% in California and 30% in Arizona reporting a large negative effect, and anticipate greater need for financial assistance (35% in CA, 28% in AZ vs. 17% and 11% for white women).
• Climate Risk Awareness: Latina entrepreneurs show stronger awareness of climate risks, with 43% in California and 42% in Arizona ranking climate change as a high or medium priority, compared to about 30% for white women in both states.
• Disaster Preparedness: Out of the three recommended disaster safeguards–insurance, structural protections, and generators–most Latina-owned businesses have at least one (77% in CA, 75% in AZ), but comprehensive preparedness is limited, with only 8% in California and 11% in Arizona having all three.
• Sustainability Intent: Latina-owned businesses demonstrate stronger intent to pursue sustainability planning (31% in CA, 28% in AZ vs. 22% and 18% for white women), despite cost barriers.

In addition, Latina-owned businesses in both states face greater difficulty accessing capital than white women-owned businesses, with 45% in California and 32% in Arizona reporting challenges, compared to 26% and 25% for white women, respectively, citing low credit scores and insufficient funding as top barriers.

“Latina entrepreneurs in California and Arizona face steep financial hurdles, lingering pandemic fallout, and intensifying climate risks, yet their fierce drive to embrace sustainability is reshaping the economic landscape of both states,” said Silvia González, director of research at LPPI. 

“In an economy grappling with inflation, rising borrowing costs, and market instability, it’s important that Arizona Latina entrepreneurs are supported through targeted investments, accessible capital, and culturally relevant outreach, ensuring economic vitality statewide,” added Francisco Pedraza, an associate professor at Arizona State University’s School of Politics and Global Studies and director of ASU CLAPR.

Read the Arizona brief here and the California brief here.

About UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

The UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute is a non-partisan research institute that seeks to inform, engage, and empower Latinos through innovative research and policy analysis. LPPI aims to promote equitable and inclusive policies that address the needs of the Latino community and advance social justice. latino.ucla.edu.