Dora Westerlund leads the Fresno Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She has worked tirelessly over many years to establish a business incubator to help start and expand small businesses, despite facing many obstacles. Her vision and determination eventually led to the opening of the incubator in 2011. Westerlund strives to use business to better people's lives and communities, and serves as a role model for others.
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Westerlund leads Hispanic Chamber
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Westerlund leads Hispanic Chamber
By STEPHANIE LÓPEZ
Special to Vida en el Valle
(Published Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013 09:59AM)
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FRESNO Dora Westerlund is far from the ballerina teacher she once dreamed of becoming.
She leads the Fresno Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, brimming with ideas and initiatives to help produce growth
in the Central Valley and change people's lives.
Children and families play a central role in Westerlund's life and this shines through in her life philosophy. "I say
everyday, if I can get to help someone then I have fulfilled my mission in what I love doing and what I am passionate
about," Westerlund said.
The 41 yearold CEO admits that it is difficult being a mother to Zoe, 4, and William, 1, who she calls her "leche y
chocolate," and a wife to business owner Larry Westerlund. But she says her family and work are worth the juggle.
While Westerlund may be a busy woman she always finds time for her children. "I want to be interested in their lives, I
don't want to miss the opportunity to be involved," Westerlund said. She enmeshes this same interest and involvement
with her business philosophy in an aim to use small businesses to better the lives of families and children.
One of Westerlund's most progressive ideas to produce change was to establish a selfsufficient business incubator in
Fresno to help start and expand small businesses and assist them with resources and connections to revitalize the
economy. And the only thing needed to start the incubator was a building.
However, in order to get started with any of it, the idea first needed to be sold. "What I do here is a lot about selling
something I don't have. Here you sell a vision," Westerlund said.
Due to many circumstantial issues the incubator plan, proposed in 2002, didn't actually get underway until 2005 when
the chamber began looking for a building in the downtown area. Along the way, the project hit many financial snags and
time after time it looked like it would crumble. Westerlund's vision and hard work eventually paid off in 2011, but not
without struggle and sacrifice.
"You don't know how many times people told me you're not going to make it," said Westerlund revealing that she kept all
those emails.
She said some people even abandoned the project while she struggled to get funding to pay the $8,000 monthly
mortgage on the building, as well as renovations and staff payroll. Westerlund even stopped paying herself for nine
months in order to make sure everything else moved forward.
When faced with problem after problem that jeopardized the continuation of the project, Westerlund began to question
whether she was just pushing too hard for something that was not meant to be. At one point, Westerlund said she
thought maybe God was telling her to just leave it all alone, so she sat back and asked herself, "is this really for our
community? Is this really something I should be pushing for?"
The answer must have been a resounding yes because in 2012 both Westerlund and the Fresno Chamber were
honored at the annual California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce convention in San Diego, where she was named
executive of the year. The Fresno chamber, which is the only Hispanic chamber in California with its own buildings, an
operating incubator and bilingual services, was named Regional Chamber of the Year.
Dora Westerlund
Birthplace/Lugar de nacimiento: Mazatlán, Sinaloa, México
Residence/Residencia: Fresno
Birth date/Fecha de nacimiento: August 5, 1971
Education/Educación
High School: Instituto Cultural de Occidente (ICO)
College: California State University, Fresno
Best advice ever received/Mejor consejo que ha recibido: "You can decide to be the tail of a lion or the head of a
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