By Ana Gomez Salcido 
Miguel Vasquez experienced poverty first hand, becoming homeless at age 16. Now, as Chairman and CEO of California Foundation Fund, Miguel helps young people in the community to succeed financially.
Vasquez, who has been an American citizen since 1998, is the son of dairy farm workers who immigrated from Mexico in 1977.
“I grew up in a very poor family. I have experienced poverty first hand and the impact poverty can have on a family, education, and the lack of resources,” said Vasquez. “To get out of a situation like that takes a lot of effort. That realization helped me understand that I had the ability to provide that type of educational resources to help individuals that are on the situation I was in growing up.”
Being homeless didn’t stop Vasquez, who from ages 11 to 17 was a paperboy in San Ysidro. After finishing high school, Vasquez created his first business: An auto shop in Chula Vista. Later he sold that business to attend the University of San Diego.
“I was living under the Kentucky Fried Chicken in San Ysidro. Eventually, I was living from house to house and I finally rented my own studio when I was attending the University of San Diego,” Vasquez said. “At one point, I was living underneath a Carpet Store where I leased a small room no bigger than a closet. I needed that to finish my education and moved on from that,” he added.
Vasquez earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration at the University of San Diego. He later earned his graduate degree in banking and management from Pacific Coast Banking School and Alliant International University.
After a successful management career in finance and emerging wireless technologies, Vasquez founded the California Foundation Fund (CFF). The CFF was founded in the middle of the last financial meltdown to help break the cycle of poverty by empowering low-to-moderate income communities through business collaboratives that deploy financial competency programs and fund development.
“It hasn’t just been myself, but a collaboration of staff members, many volunteers, and with community leaders that have supported the foundation to achieve what has have achieved to this day,” said Vasquez.
The CFF runs four main programs to empower new business leaders. The one that has gathered the most attention is the FutureBoss Youth Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition. Over 1,000 high school students from underserved communities in San Diego and Calexico apply to FutureBoss each year to win a mentorship program where they can learn how to start their own business.
There are 30 students selected by FutureBoss each year that receive the grant for a week of classes like marketing, human resources, and accounting to be able to successfully run a business.
“100 percent of the participants have gone to college, and 25 percent of them have already opened their own business,” said Vasquez. “It is our cornerstone program and it’s the one that has really help put the CFF on the map because of the impact on youth, economic development, and supporting higher education for students.”
Over 80 percent of the FutureBoss participants are Hispanic.
The students can win prizes with the program and also have the opportunity to connect with executives from the local business community who work in companies like Wells Fargo, San Diego Gas & Electric, and SeaWorld.
“It is a great opportunity for the students to meet with senior management of local corporations to have that connection. Most of the students that have won have gone on to work for companies like Wells Fargo Bank, Goldman Sachs, and even Google,” said Vasquez. “They see these students as our future leaders. They see that they can make it through the training. There are thousands that apply, and these are the top 30.”
At the CFF, there is also the Financial Wellness Program that helps employers to empower their employees to financial freedom through a software educational platform that encourages better budgeting. There are over a 1,000 employers and over a million employees that are currently being serviced through this financial wellness program.
“Our short term goal is to advocate for financial wellness in the workplace and to get more and more employers engaged in our financial wellness platform which is provided to them at no cost, that helps them leverage their employees benefits,” said Vasquez. “In the long run, we want to expand the FutureBoss program throughout all California, and then up North.”
Vasquez has served as a board member for InterAmerican College Scholarship Foundation, resource chair of the San Diego County Financial Education Task Force, member of the President’s Lecture Series at Alliant International University, Vice-Chairman of the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, board member of United States University, board member of La Cuna foster care, and board member of La Raza Lawyers Scholarship Foundation.
This year, Vasquez received the Bishop Charles Francis Buddy Award from his Alma Mater, the University of San Diego.