La Casa Blanca recognizes La Casa Azul Bookstore owner as "Champion of Change"

Dear bookstore friends and fans,    

I am thrilled to share this news with you, the White House is recognizing me as a Crowdfunding "Champion of Change"! I am forever thankful to the funders of the "40K in 40 days" campaign, who believed in the power of community, in La Casa Azul Bookstore and in me.

White House Highlights Aurora Anaya-Cerda as a Crowdfunding 

“Champion of Change”

WASHINGTON, DC – On Tuesday, June 4th, the White House honors Aurora Anaya-Cerda, owner of La Casa Azul Bookstore, as one of twelve people who are Crowdfunding “Champions of Change.” This Champions event will focus on entrepreneurs who exemplify the promise of crowdfunding to fuel the growth of startups, small businesses, and innovative projects across the Nation.  "Crowdfunding" means raising money in small increments from many individuals, typically using an Internet platform.  Donation-based crowdfunding is already empowering many entrepreneurs, while investment-based crowdfunding platforms will soon be facilitated by the bipartisan Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, which the President signed last year and the SEC will implement.

“The Champions of Change that the White House is honoring today are using crowdfunding to create jobs for our Nation’s veterans, accelerate the deployment of solar energy, revitalize our cities, and expand the frontiers of citizen science,” said Thomas Kalil, Deputy Director for Technology and Innovation for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.  
“Crowdfunding is the 21^st century equivalent of barn-raising.  We can use it to help our neighbors and fellow citizens start a business, enrich our culture, and apply grassroots creativity and imagination to challenges big and small.”

 
The Champions of Change program was created as an opportunity for the White house to feature groups of Americans – individuals, businesses and organizations – who are doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities. 


To watch this event live, visit www.whitehouse.gov/live at 2:30 pm ET on June 4th.  
To learn more about the White House Champions of Change program and nominate a Champion, visit www.whitehouse.gov/champions.

 

Aurora Anaya-Cerda
New York, NY
Aurora Anaya-Cerda is the founder of La Casa Azul Bookstore, East Harlem’s only independent bookstore and the only bookstore in New York that features art and writing by Latino writers. Established in 2012 and funded in-part by a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, La Casa Azul Bookstore has become a cultural hub in the city, providing programs, classes and readings, from local artists to nationally recognized writers and performers.  Ms. Anaya-Cerda is also the founder of the East Harlem Children’s Book Festival—an event that connects authors, publishers, families and the community as a whole.   Ms. Anaya-Cerda has worked as a dynamic and passionate supporter of cultural events in the East Harlem community and has been awarded the Juanita Centeno Leadership Award, the UCLA Women for Change Leadership Award, and the Casa Atabex Ache Women Warrior Award.   Ms. Anaya-Cerda is a scholarship recipient of the New Start Fund, awarded to women entrepreneurs in New York City, and is a member of the Young Hispanic Leaders Program and the National Young Latino Leaders in the Arts Task Force. 


Social media users:
@LaCasaAzulBooks
@WhiteHouseOSTP
#WHChamps

Contact:
La Casa Azul Bookstore
info.lacasaazul@gmail.com
212.426.2626