Vital Vida Vendors is a business founded and owned by Ana Garcia, a neurodivergent Mexicana immigrant dedicated to generating revenue streams that support our most vulnerable communities. This initiative draws inspiration from Saidiya Hartman’s words: “So much of the work of oppression is about policing the imagination.” After engaging in various efforts aimed at promoting justice and equity, Ana has chosen to focus her work on empowering her community through entrepreneurship and creative expression.

Ana believes that returning to entrepreneurial small business models that prioritize their impact on individuals and communities is a vital approach to challenging systems of oppression. To participate on the Vital Vida Vendors platform, our vendors must commit to disrupting capitalistic structures through profit-sharing initiatives that sustain grassroots organizations, mutual aid funds, and individuals actively working to dismantle oppressive systems targeting Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color, as well as those marginalized by ableism, misogyny, heterosexism, and other forms of oppression.

We utilize this platform to foster and express our creativity and imagination, enabling individuals to meet their essential needs in a manner that is more equitable and less extractive.