Esperanza GuerreroAnderson

In 1979, Esperanza Guerrero–Anderson was a successful young professional in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua. She was armed with a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota and was ascending the professional ranks at the Central Bank of Nicaragua. Then came the Nicaraguan Revolution. Amid guerrilla attacks that led to the fall of the ruling dynasty, Guerrero–Anderson and her family fled to Minnesota, where her older brother had been living for many years.

“We came with nothing,” recalls Guerrero–Anderson. But after emigrating, she picked up her business career where she left off. Today she is the founder, president, and CEO of the Milestone Growth Fund, a venture capital financing company supporting minority entrepreneurs.

While Guerrero–Anderson’s career reflects her commitment to the community, it is in her volunteer work that it is most apparent. The list of organizations she has served is long and varied. It includes the Minnesota International Center, the College of St. Catherine, the Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable, and the Center of the American Experiment. She currently sits on the boards of the Bush Foundation, United Way, and the Walker Art Center.

She also spends a great deal of time mentoring minority entrepreneurs, working partly with those who simply seek her out on the strength of her reputation and partly through the Carlson School of Management, the Metropolitan Economic Development Association (whose mentorship program she founded while president of the group in the 1980s), and other organizations.

Touchingly, amid all of her largely high-profile boardroom service, Guerrero–Anderson identifies one of her most humble volunteer experiences as the most affecting. Within months of arriving in Minnesota, she volunteered to answer phones for Contact, a small counseling and information help line. She spent overnight shifts alone in a hotel room, listening to the depressed and disadvantaged residents of her newly adopted hometown.

“That was one of the best things that ever happened to me,” explains Guerrero–Anderson. “It helped me realize we are all humans and we all have the same emotional needs, regardless of how we look or where we’re coming from. It was beautiful.”