Voices of Resilience: A Conversation with Xiomara Diaz
March 2020 – Xiomara Diaz is the Founder and co-owner of The Garden Café, a small café and restaurant in Granada, Nicaragua that specializes in healthy Californian and Nicaraguan cuisin, and now serves as a model for sustainable tourism. The Garden Café employs mostly women and responds to the needs of the local community.
Xiomara is also the founder of UPNicaragua, an organization that empowers a young generation of Nicaraguan girls with personal and professional skills which allow them to grow into safe and meaningful futures. Xiomara was a mentee in the Global Ambassadors Program, a partnership between Vital Voices and Bank of America. Xiomara sits down with Vital Voices President and CEO Alyse Nelson to discuss ways Nicaragua’s civil society is stepping up to respond to COVID-19 concerns, and how she has adjusted her business to this new reality.
During their conversation, Xiomara and Alyse talk about how civilians have been working to collectively respond to the coronavirus in the midst of ongoing political crisis in the country. They also talked about the changes she has had to make to her small business to keep her employees safe and health, how women entrepreneurs may be impacted in the long-term due to the pandemic, and tips she has on carrying forward during a crisis.
Tune into the episode today:
To find out more about Xiomara’s work, read her bio on the Global Ambassadors site, and her intitiatives below.