Three South Denver stories highlight the traditions, entrepreneurship, and community leadership
By Lexi Marshall
EVERY SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, communities across the country pause to recognize the histories, traditions, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans. In the South Denver suburbs, that recognition shows up in familiar, everyday places—the careful stitching of a handmade accessory sold in a local market, at a family-owned restaurant table, and, of course, in the work of local nonprofits championing equality.
DUENDES TEJIDOS
Duendes Tejidos (knitted elves) began more than 15 years ago in Colombia, where founder Nancy Zamora and her childhood friend Ana grew up together in the same neighborhood, learning to knit and crochet side by side in school—Zamora with two needles, Ana with a hook. Around 2010, the two turned that shared craft into Duendes Tejidos, back home in Bogotá.
When Zamora and her sister, Monica Josephson, later moved to Colorado, they set out to bring the brand with them, launching a knitted accessories business under the Duendes name in the spring of 2019. At first, the offerings were limited to winter pieces—scarves, hats, and mittens, and the sisters were still working out how to build the business into a year-round venture.
The pandemic reshaped those plans. “During COVID, with tutorials at home, I learned the beautiful art of beadwork,” she says. That period became the moment to add a beaded jewelry collection—a craft she had wanted to learn for years but had never had time to pursue—and a new woven line, expanding Duendes Tejidos beyond its original winter knitwear.
The family’s creative roots run deep. Their father taught them to sew. An aunt worked in industrial clothing production. An uncle had a knack for building and designing things by hand. Though Zamora and Josephson largely taught themselves their current techniques, much of their inspiration comes from travel through Colombia, where each region carries its own weaving styles and colors, and where local markets became a source of ideas and appreciation for handcrafted work.
That dual inheritance—Colombian craft tradition and a new life in Colorado—shapes the brand’s identity today. The sisters describe a strong resemblance between their hometown of Bogotá and their adopted home in Colorado, both being surrounded by nature and rich in color. “We focus on designing pieces that convey freedom, authenticity, and a conscious lifestyle,” Josephson says, “with a bohemian, relaxed yet chic feel, celebrating craftsmanship, creativity, and the beauty of handmade work.”
For Zamora and Josephson, Hispanic Heritage Month is less a single occasion than an extension of what they do year-round. “It’s largely an opportunity to honor what we do, especially with Duendes, to honor our art, customs, and roots,” Zamora says.
Through pop-up markets and workshops, the sisters have found that teaching their craft is about more than technique. “The union and weaving of threads, similar to the union of people, can create a beautiful piece, a beautiful community,” Josephson says. They describe Colorado’s Latino business community as unusually supportive and credit the relationships built at markets and events with helping their business grow, even without a large network of fellow designers nearby.
Looking ahead, the sisters hope to open a retail space of their own, one that would not only showcase Duendes Tejidos but also support other small artisans building their businesses.
CASA MATA
Jose Mata’s path to restaurant ownership started with a job he didn’t love. At 16, working in a Mexican restaurant in Everett, Washington, he washed dishes and helped in the kitchen, tasks that never particularly appealed to him. What did appeal to him was the front of the house, the act of serving people directly and watching their reaction to a good meal. “I did not like cooking, but I love to serve people,” Mata says.
That distinction mattered. Mata found real happiness in the moment a guest smiled, thanked him, and complimented the food and service. “That, to me, is the highest achievement that I have ever had,” he says. That realization planted the idea of one day opening a restaurant of his own.
In 2003, Mata moved to Parker and took a job at a Mexican restaurant called Guadalajara. The community made an impression on him immediately, and he decided it was the right place to put down roots. Two decades later, Casa Mata stands as the result of that decision, though Mata is candid that the path was not easy. In the early years, he says, there were moments he doubted whether the business would survive.
Today, Casa Mata is part of the fabric of Parker’s dining scene, something Mata attributes directly to the community’s response. He describes pride in sharing Mexican food traditions with customers, and for him, that connection is at the heart of Hispanic Heritage itself. Watching people enjoy the dishes on the menu continues to motivate him to introduce new items over time.
Among the dishes on Casa Mata’s menu, carne asada holds particular significance for Mata personally. It was a near-weekly tradition growing up, when his family would gather around warm homemade tortillas, beans, and salsa. “My favorite plate is our carne asada dish—that brings me back to my youth years,” he says. That memory of family gathered around a shared meal informs how he thinks about hospitality today.
Asked what he hopes for the South Denver community,Mata points back to the same idea that drew him into the restaurant business as a teenager: the enjoyment of good food, good drinks, and genuinely friendly service. “I love my business and mostly love what I do to make people happy and smile,” he says. “I love our great Parker community.”
LATINO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF COLORADO
Alongside individual entrepreneurs and artisans, a network of nonprofits is working to address a less visible barrier facing Colorado’s Hispanic and Latino community: access to capital. National data published by the Federal Reserve shows white applicants are far more likely to receive all the financing they seek than Hispanic, Black, or Asian applicants, and Brookings Institution research has found large banks approve Hispanic- and Latino-owned business loans at notably lower rates than those owned by white applicants. That gap can stall housing projects, delay services, and put entire neighborhoods at risk of being reshaped without the people who built them.
The Latino Community Foundation of Colorado (LCFC) created the Colorado Communities of Color Loan Fund to help close that gap, offering flexible, culturally responsive financing to nonprofits and community developers led by and serving communities of color.
Adelante Community Development, a Commerce City-based nonprofit, turned to the fund during a period of growing community need and limited access to equitable funding. Established in 2014, the organization bridges resource gaps by providing business courses, mentorship, and equity advocacy in Spanish.
María González, the organization’s founder and CEO, says the program stood out because it recognized the specific challenges culturally rooted organizations face in traditional lending systems. “It creates trust, stability, and long-term community investment,” González told LCFC. She adds that she hopes more foundations and financial institutions adopt similar models going forward.
The loan fund is one piece of a broader set of initiatives LCFC has built to strengthen Latino-led and Latino-serving organizations statewide, including a multi-year cohort program supporting the capacity of established nonprofits, a nonprofit infrastructure grant developed with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs for organizations affected by the pandemic, and a coalition of nonprofit leaders that helped champion the passage of state legislation supporting community organizations. Together, the efforts reflect a broader theme running through this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month stories: Lasting community impact depends not only on creativity and hard work, but also on making sure the people closest to that work have real access to the resources needed to sustain it.
