On Leading With Heart and Hustle with Cynthia Torres

It's National Hispanic Heritage Month! In this episode, I’m thrilled to be joined by the inspiring Cynthia Torres, LMFT—someone who has been a true force in the social good space for over 25 years. As a Colombian-American entrepreneur and community leader, Cynthia wears two powerful hats: she’s the founder of New Dawn Counseling & Consulting, Inc., and the Executive Director of the beloved nonprofit, City Impact. Cynthia is here to break down how she’s mastered the art of blending business with benevolence, all while serving Oxnard’s vibrant Latinx population.

We dive into some hard-hitting truths, like why Latinas face the steepest climb in corporate America and how Cynthia’s been smashing those barriers every step of the way. She also shares how she balances running both a for-profit and a nonprofit—yes, at the same time—and how her hybrid model is changing lives while keeping the lights on.

What we discuss: 

• National Hispanic Heritage Month: Why this month matters and how it connects to the rich history of Hispanic contributions in the U.S.
• Latinas in Business: We’re tackling some eye-opening stats on Latina labor force participation and business ownership. Spoiler: Latina-owned businesses are booming!
• Cynthia’s Journey: From Colombia to California, she shares her deeply personal story of overcoming barriers as a Latina entrepreneur and why she founded New Dawn Counseling.
• A Hybrid Business Model: Curious how someone runs both a for-profit and a nonprofit? Cynthia breaks it down and explains how her model provides stability while staying true to her mission of serving those most in need.
• Advice for Young Latina Professionals: Cynthia dishes out some real talk and actionable advice for the next generation of Latina leaders trying to break through.

Cynthia is a powerhouse of wisdom, warmth, and relentless drive. Whether you’re a nonprofit leader, entrepreneur, or just someone looking to be inspired, this conversation is packed with insights on how to lead with both heart and hustle. Plus, you’ll get Cynthia’s personal tips on navigating the challenges that Latina women still face in today’s professional world.

About Cynthia:
Cynthia Torres, LMFT (Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist), is a Colombian American who has resided in our local community for over 25 years, leaving an indelible mark in service to our vibrant and dynamic Latinx population. Her professional journey is nothing short of remarkable: she not only founded the local for-profit business, New Dawn Counseling & Consulting, Inc., but also recently assumed leadership of the beloved thirty-year-old nonprofit organization, City Impact, Inc.

Cynthia on LinkedIn
City Impact on LinkedIn
City Impact Website

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Transcript

>> Julia Campbell: 0:02

Hello, and welcome to Nonprofit Nation. I'm your host, Julia Campbell, and I'm going to sit down with nonprofit industry experts, fundraisers, marketers, and everyone in between to get real and discuss what it takes to build that movement that you've been dreaming of. I created the nonprofit nation podcast to share practical wisdom and strategies to help you confidently find your voice, definitively grow your audience, and effectively build your movement. If you're a nonprofit newbie or an experienced professional who's looking to get more visibility, reach more people, and create even more impact, then you're in the right place. Let's get started. All right. Hello, everyone. This, is Nonprofit Nation. I'm your host, Julia Campbell, and welcome to the show. Or welcome back to the show. For some of my longtime listeners, this month marks the, three year anniversary of nonprofit Nation. And I am just so excited that I have had the privilege and the honor of recording all these episodes with these amazing guests through over three years. Today, I have a pretty incredible person with me, someone who's not only making waves in the business world, but also really creating a lasting impact her community. And I want to introduce all of you to Cynthia Torres. And Cynthia is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the founder of New Dawn Counseling and Consulting, and the executive director of City Impact, which is a nonprofit that's been serving ox nerds in California Latinx community for over 30 years. Now. She's here to talk about everything from breaking barriers as a latina entrepreneur to running a hybrid business model that blends profit with purpose. And we're also diving into some pretty hard hitting stats about latina women in the workplace and hearing Cynthia's powerful advice for the next generation. So I'm really excited. And, Cynthia, welcome to Nonprofit Nation.

>> Cynthia Torres: 2:21

Thank you so much for that introduction, Julia, and congratulations on three years of, interviewing people. That's amazing.

>> Julia Campbell: 2:29

Thank you. I always forget to mention that when I talk about the podcast, how long it's been going, and three years seems to have gone by in an absolute flash. But right now, when this is being released, it is national Hispanic Heritage Month, and that is sort of how we got connected. So can you explain, you know, the significance of this month when we celebrate it? What are the dates? What are some things we should be looking for?

>> Cynthia Torres: 2:57

Yes. So, hispanic heritage month starts September 15 and goes until, I believe, October 15. And it really goes back to, there are many of the latin american countries that, celebrate their independence during that time, and so making sure that we are highlighting the voices of the Hispanics and Latinos in the United States. And so it's a privilege for me to be able to be here speaking about what does that mean for us to have the hispanic heritage? As you can hear in my accent, I am a colombian American. I've been here for about 25 years. And so just speaking about where I come from and, you know, the hispanic roots that I have and how that has helped me be who I am and, where I'm at today. So it's part of something that I love talking about.

>> Julia Campbell: 3:55

Can you tell us about your journey to becoming sort of a licensed therapist, the founder of a counseling center, the executive director of city Impact, sort of what led you down this path?

>> Cynthia Torres: 4:08

Yes. So my parents are entrepreneurs as well. And so when I came here about 25 years ago, I always knew that I wanted to be able to have my own business, because I experienced firsthand the possibility of creating social mobility through being an entrepreneur. And so I had this passion and desire to be able to have my own business. And so after many years, I am also a single mother of two kids. And after many years of, trying with the nonprofit, I decided to take over a county contract that was offered to me. At that point, there were 22 people working with me, and about, we were providing services to about 1500 people on a yearly basis. And, all the services were going to go away at that point. So I could not say no to that opportunity to continue providing services mainly to the Latinx community in the Oxnard region. So that's how new dawn got started, and it has been a beautiful process of learning a lot about business and developing the passion for how to create compassionate work environments where we're not only providing mental health services to the external client, but we really create systems of support to the internal client, and we promote wellness at all levels. That's kind of how I got started with the nonprofit and how new dong came about.

>> Julia Campbell: 5:49

That's really interesting. I want to talk about city impact, because when doing some research, I found that nonprofits in California, which is where you're located, generate 15% of the state's gross domestic product. But research shows that large disparities between funding, and nonprofit services offered to predominantly white communities versus communities of color. And this disparity is growing wider, according to the Hispanic Research center. So can you tell us about your experience with city impact and how it kind of addresses these disparities for the community that it serves?

>> Cynthia Torres: 6:35

Yes. So with, the way I transition from having a nonprofit to a for profit to a nonprofit is really seeing that we want to be able to really expand the capacity and provide more services and contribute more to what's happening in the world of social services. And our niche has always been working with hispanic population. My staff is composed of. Of 85% hispanic or bilingual bicultural people. And being able to see that, similarity also with city impact, I felt that it was kind of a perfect place for us to be able to really expand the way we're providing services. So city impact has been in the area for the last 30 years, and they are also providing social work services with case management and mental health services. And so that is one of our goals, to really continue providing services to the latin community in the area, because of, the research that we are showing that even though there are a lot of nonprofits, many of them are really servicing other populations and not focusing on the latin hispanic population.

>> Julia Campbell: 7:56

What's been one of the biggest challenges that you have faced in being an executive director?

>> Cynthia Torres: 8:02

Part of it is understanding the differences between a nonprofit and the for profit world and embracing those differences, and, you know, even from the sense of the culture of each organization, so being able to really be true to the core of city impact and also keeping the core of Newton and understanding that they are two very different organisms. And so I think that that has been the challenge. I think that funding comes with its own challenges for the nonprofit world, where there is times where we have a lot of funding, and there is times where we don't have enough funding, and people become very prompt to put band aids to resolve the problems, and then not creating systems that are really going to set us up, for success. So that's part of where I feel that the magic between a nonprofit and a for profit world comes together, because with a for profit, I'm learning efficiency and effectiveness is super important, and being able to introduce that in an environment that people are so passionate and so devoted to a mission, to be able to really maximize the resources that they have. And so that's kind of where I see the magic happening on the hybrid model.

>> Julia Campbell: 9:28

Yes, I do want to talk to that. I talk, to that point, because you are a founder and CEO of a business and the executive director of a nonprofit. So can you explain a little bit more about this hybrid business model for people listening? You know, my audience is predominantly people that work at nonprofits. Maybe they are in fundraising. Maybe they are in marketing, communications programs. But there are executive directors, there are leaders, board members. So how did this come to really be, and how does it work in your context? What are some of the benefits.

>> Cynthia Torres: 10:06

So I think that both nonprofit and for profit world, we want to be able to really bank on efficiency of the processes that we follow. Yet the nonprofit world, because of the changing environment that they always have with the different funding, they focus on the day to day operations. And I think that the key component for successful, strategic work is when you are able to plan ahead and kind of, foresee what's coming in the future and prepare for it, as well as in this world. I believe that after the pandemic, we're moving at a very, very fast pace and being able to create an organization that is responding to the market needs and not necessarily sticking to the traditional way of doing business. And so I think that when we're looking at, the two organizations are completely separate, yet the collaboration between the two organizations is what's going to help us reduce the bottom cost of operating both businesses and, increase the impact that we are providing in the world. And I think that something beautiful that I had found with the nonprofit world is, as I said, people are very mission driven. And so doing business, for doing business, and I know we have to create a profit, and that's part of doing business. I like that portion of it. Yet being able to combine it with the compassion and the love for the work that we do, and, just having a very mission driven work gives a lot more purpose and meaning to what we are doing. And so I think that that's the beauty of the hybrid combination.

>> Julia Campbell: 11:57

Do you think that younger generations are more responsive to this kind of hybrid model in that they've sort of seen, businesses that they know and love delve into the social issue space? Do you think this is just becoming sort of more normalized? And this is a trend that we're going to see?

>> Cynthia Torres: 12:17

I definitely see that it's a trend that I could foresee, especially from the part of collaboration. I think nowadays we have realized that it's not about competing against each other. It's all about how can we co create spaces that really meet each person or each organization's needs. And so our needs are very different, and we are able to complement each other in different ways. And so I definitely think that new generations are going to be a lot more open to these new flexible, organic model, to be able to be able to respond to the needs of the community. I have a couple of point of references right now, actually. I went to an all girls high school in Colombia that is closing in November. And in June, my daughter's high school, which was an, ah, all girls high school in the area ended up closing. And I think that that is because the organizations were so structured for perpetuity in the same way that they did not. They forgot to respond to the changing needs of the community and. So I think that if we are able to respond to the current needs and incorporate this collaboration and these new models of working, we are going to be able to continue being more present for the next generations to come.

>> Julia Campbell: 13:49

I have always thought that about the sector. We're very married to the status quo and to how things we think should be, and we are not as good at, ah, pivoting or changing or adapting to the needs of our communities. I mean, that's just a big generalization, but I do see that a lot in my work and in my experience with nonprofits. What is some advice that you would give to an executive director that wants to try something different or get out of the status quo, but maybe feels risk averse or scared or is getting pushback from their board?

>> Cynthia Torres: 14:29

Great question. Definitely the work with the board is one of the key pieces that are going to be able to support or create an obstacle or a barrier to continue moving forward. I had been really fortunate to have consultants that come alongside to be able to guide us and help us see the benefits of new things. And let's face it, change is difficult for all of us because we kind of get used to our, traditional ways of doing things. And, yet we had created systems within the organization that are going to help us bring the feedback from the internal and external client and be able to highlight the needs that are emerging from our therapist, our case managers, to the forefront of the work that we're doing. And the same thing with our clients, that we're counseling and providing services, that their opinion, their voice matters, and we really incorporate it into how is it that we're going to be able to do things differently? And so we all want to help connecting to just that, listening ear for the people that we're serving, as well as the people inside of our organization. I think that that would be one of the key points that would help people take that aversion to change or to traditional ways of doing things and see that the need is there for us to change.

>> Julia Campbell: 16:03

Absolutely. I think that's a really great point. Now, just to kind of turn it back to national, Hispanic Heritage Month, you and your team had reached out to me with some pretty shocking statistics and encouraging us to talk more about, you know, sort of your personal journey. As a colombian born businesswoman. I think that is so interesting, and I think a lot of my listeners can relate to what your. What you've gone through or some pieces of your journey. So, in the statistics that I read, Latinas face the steepest climb in corporate America, with only 1% reaching c suite roles, according to, study by McKinsey. How have you personally navigated this as a colombian born businesswoman?

>> Cynthia Torres: 16:51

Well, I think that, first of all, I really wanted to encourage other people to be able to raise their voices, because I particularly don't have anything that makes me different than the rest. I came here 25 years ago with only$800 in my pocket, and I've been a single mom for over 50 years. As you can hear it, I have an accent, and if I was able to do it, anybody could do it. But I think it's the willingness to risk your significance and be able to have a voice. And, even when you are not welcome, really being able to tap into people and say, hey, I really think it would be important, this contribution that I have or this way of looking at things. And so just encouraging everybody to raise their voices, because their voice is really important, and is, even though it might seem that is not valued, at the end of the day, that is what's going to be able to make a difference. And so I think that that would be one of the things that I would encourage people. Definitely word participation. You know, usually board people are volunteers. I am always looking for you.

>> Julia Campbell: 18:07

We always love to volunteer.

>> Cynthia Torres: 18:09

Yes. And so just being able to be part of something that you feel connected with and help out, with the operations of other nonprofits, there are many, many nonprofits in the area with many different missions. And so it's just connecting with that and being able to release support, the work that they are doing. And I think that we, as, women, have the power of collaboration more than maybe males in the community, because we're used to, you know, there has been a study saying that the money that goes to a woman usually goes back into the community, either to education or to collaborating with other people. And that is very true. That has been my experience. So we bring together kind of that sense of, let's collaborate, let's make things better from a co creative space.

>> Julia Campbell: 19:04

This is also a huge problem in the nonprofit sector. I just looked it up. according to a study and an analysis done by Candid, shared with the Chronicle of philanthropy, many women of color do lead nonprofits, especially the smallest organizations. And it's estimated that 28% of those with budgets below $50,000 have women of color at the helm. So that constant hamster wheel of finding funding, never having enough bandwidth, never having enough capacity, having enough staff, not enough investment, I think is unfortunately very pervasive in the sector. And we know that women of color have emerged as key contributors to not only nonprofit growth, but also business growth. And hispanic women show higher labor force participation rates than the national average, according to data. But the numbers point to an untapped potential. Right. I think this is something that we had wanted to discuss about this untapped potential that can result in groundbreaking economic impact. So in your opinion, how can the business world and the nonprofit world do a better job to sort of harness this potential?

>> Cynthia Torres: 20:23

First thing that comes to mind is that we women need to be able to be equipped with financial literacy, to be able to really contribute and not be so afraid about the numbers. And again, me being a psychologist by trade, I chose the profession, actually, because I said I don't want to deal with numbers. That's a very common experience for other MFT's or psychologists. And yet numbers give you a very clear picture of where things are happening and how to be able to make modifications. And so I think that being able to open up to learning a little bit more about financial literacy and I the possibility of becoming an entrepreneur. There are a lot of organizations that support women starting their own business. I work with a nonprofit, women economic ventures in the area. And they had been a great platform for me to create a network of support through being able to create my own business and making it grow and getting the resources and the consultation that I have needed to make it happen. And so I think that, again, the power of community around women is the network is definitely something that is going to help potentialize that, growth. The other part that I think is really important is when we jump from being solopreneurs to hiring somebody else is a very scary jump. And again, through that is where we really are going to create exponential growth of our idea, our mission, and be able to contribute. So I would say, I know it's a difficult jump to make, but there are organizations that are going to be able to support you in the journey, and being able to move to that level is going to free you up to be able to focus on the most important things. So it's not, we always talk about working in the business versus working on the business. And so that's kind of the place that I think is crucial to get the support, to be able to make the jump and be able to have others helping you. And you will be surprised once you start sharing your idea, and it comes from a place of passion, people will join you no matter what it's like. Oh, yeah, definitely. That sounds like a great idea. Or I. You could improve it this way. So, again, having a voice and sharing it with people has been helpful in my journey.

>> Julia Campbell: 22:59

That's so important. And building that network and, that network of support, especially if you're just starting out or if you are taking on a new leadership role and you're kind of concerned, how can I make this transition? How can I balance everything? Finding that network of support people that do the same, similar work or similar tract or similar industry? I know that's always been really helpful for me. So, what's your long term vision for this hybrid model? how do you see both new dawn counseling and city impact evolving over the next five to ten years?

>> Cynthia Torres: 23:42

Yes. So, one of the projects that we are working on is that, we had found that mental health has been seen in a very compartmentalized ways, and we're only looking at mental health as, the support that we are needing. Yet we are not talking about the physical support in terms of nutrition, movement, sleep, or the environmental support that a person could have with teaching their parents how to navigate the system, or financial literacy, as well as the spiritual and inspirational portion of it. So, the way I see it in the future is that, we want to be able to create a ranch for integrated holistic services, where we're going to be able to contribute from the for profit world with bringing in funding streams, and also from the nonprofit world, and co creating this idea of increasing wellness for everybody that. That is in need of services. And so, again, is a collaboration with a big goal. Being a single mom for many years, I know that there is a lot of support formulated for other single parents. And so the idea would be to have tiny homes for single moms. And again, it is tapping into the resources from the nonprofit and for profit world to be able to make this dream a reality, which I think that it comes to solve, or at least partially solve the problem of housing that we have here in California, partially come to solve the problem of, not having enough support to raise kids, partly coming to support kids and their mental well being in their development. So just kind of covering a lot more pieces from different places.

>> Julia Campbell: 25:44

I think that's so important to think holistically about the problems that communities are facing, because you're right, it can't just be a nonprofit over here. Sort of solving one, their little piece, and then a business kind of trying to solve their little piece. We all need to be looking at the sort of North Star, the vision of the world we want to live in, the community we want to create, bringing all the people together that have that same vision. Because just one of us and just one organization is certainly not going to solve all the problems.

>> Cynthia Torres: 26:19

No, for sure, no. That's why it's so important to be able to, the attitude of si se puede, and I don't know if you have heard about that. it comes from Cesar Chavez, and so is any obstacles that are in front of you, you are going to be able to resolve it. As long as you have a team of people that are working alongside with you to be able to resolve that issue.

>> Julia Campbell: 26:42

That's fantastic. So what advice? I mean, I know we're talking about national hispanic heritage month, so what advice would you give young hispanic women today who potentially want to take a leadership position or are facing these kind of barriers? But I'm sure there's themes for other women, women of color, other groups that have been, you know, m underrepresented in these areas. So what advice would you give and how do you mentor young emerging leaders to, sort of overcome these barriers?

>> Cynthia Torres: 27:18

I often talk about the power of self compassion, and I think that we very quickly talk about, oh, let's have compassion for others. And many times we don't really turn it back in and say, it's important for us to have a lot of self, compassion. there are many times in which we're going to have micro or macro aggressions because people don't really understand where we are coming from. And so it's understanding that we are going to hear things that we see it as a micro or microaggression. And at the same time, it's an opportunity for us to be able to educate people on how that common lands for us, they don't have that perspective, and it's really challenging for them to really understand. And I'm going to give a brief example, if you allow me. We just went to the Paris Olympic with my kids. Oh, it's fun.

>> Julia Campbell: 28:20

I'm so jealous. I followed all of it, really? Oh, completely obsessed. I was so happy to actually be on social media the last few weeks because it was just such a joy to see a lot of the stories.

>> Cynthia Torres: 28:34

Yes. So I grew up in Colombia, third world country. I was practicing gymnastics, and the idea of going to the Olympics didn't even kind of fit my brain let's put it that way. I couldn't wrap my head around that idea yet. Me, at my age, being able to be there, sitting, watching the Olympic gymnastics at one of the events, I started crying because there was such a huge gap in between. Yet that was my reality. My kids went to school with kids that had gone to the Olympics, and, they are exposed to either friend over friend, or it's within their reach that people go to the Olympics on a consistent basis from the United States. And as much as I try to help them understand how big of a gap it was for me, they're like, I just don't get it. Like, why is this a big deal for you? And I'm, just bringing that example as it's not with bad intentions that people are quick to make judgments about others. It's just their worldview is very different than, our worldview. And just taking time to be able to be curious about. Okay, if you are making that comment, where is that coming from? What kind of experience have you had? And so. And being able to provide to us also self compassion, because it's hard to hear those judgments and those micro or microaggressions. So that's where I think that would be. The advice that I would give is be super compassionate with yourself, and that is going to help you grow your compassion towards other people, because usually people are not doing it with bad intentions. It's just they don't have the context that we have.

>> Julia Campbell: 30:26

That is just such a fantastic note to end on. I don't think we could say anything more powerful. Having self compassion and having self compassion will lead you to have more compassion and empathy for others and to be curious about others experiences. That's very generous, and I really love and respect that. So where can people find more about you, Cynthia? Find more about both of your organizations, connect with you online?

>> Cynthia Torres: 30:58

Definitely. So we have, cityimpact.com is the website for Cityimpact, and we have new dawncnc.com is a website for New dawn. And we are also on Instagram and Facebook. that would be some of the places. And LinkedIn, we are very active on LinkedIn. So those are the places to continue following us, and supporting us.

>> Julia Campbell: 31:23

And are there any kind of last thoughts about how we can best celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, maybe specifically for nonprofits? How can we learn more about it? How can we learn, what should we be paying attention to? And how can we sign up to participate?

>> Cynthia Torres: 31:43

Reach out to a local nonprofit that is in your heart and see how you are going to be able to support and with the lens of how is it that we're going to really be able to look at the Hispanics and the heritage and all the contributions that we have been able to make throughout the history and currently we're making in our world? So I think that that would be a very concrete way of doing it. I want to add, that art and culture, you know, I love dancing, and so I belong to a folk colombian, ah, dance group. And so I think that that's another way of really being able to tap into the different cultures and what the hispanic heritage is bringing to the american culture as a whole. So that would be another way to get in touch with it and participate and, learn to honor our culture.

>> Julia Campbell: 32:41

Amazing. I'm going to put all the links in the show notes to everything we talked about today, everything that Cynthia mentioned. Cynthia, I'm so happy that your team reached out, that we got connected, and that we were able to have this conversation. So I just really appreciate you being here today. Thank you so much.

>> Cynthia Torres: 32:59

Thank you for having me. And again, congratulations of those three years of producing podcasts and really raising people's voices to be able to talk about these important issues.

>> Julia Campbell: 33:16

Well, hey there. I wanted to say thank you for tuning into my show and for listening all the way to the end. If you really enjoyed today's conversation, make sure to subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast app, and you'll get new episodes downloaded as soon as they come out. I would love if you left me a rating or a review, because this tells other people that my podcast is worth listening to, and then me and my guests can reach even more earbuds and create even more impact. So that's pretty much it. I'll be back soon with a brand new episode, but until then, you can find me on instagram. Uliacampbell 77. Keep changing the world, you nonprofit unicorn.