Omar Carrera’s Story

Making change and scaling Canal Alliance with strategic funding from Tipping Point Community

Over two decades ago, Omar Carrera went to an ATM in Quito, Ecuador and saw a sign that read, “I’m sorry, we are closed for 24 hours.” Two days later, all of his money was gone. 

But it wasn’t just his. In early 1999, Ecuador’s banking system completely collapsed. Most people lost everything—their retirement accounts, savings accounts, and their dreams for the future. Over a million people in financial ruin were forced to flee the country. 

Omar was one of them.

“I had a degree in business management and accounting. I had started my own consulting firm,” he said. Despite his education and success, he and his family were forced to leave everything they knew and loved. 

In the States, Omar felt like he had to reinvent himself. “Not being able to speak English was very hard,” he said. This challenge was a significant barrier for Omar to find employment and opportunities better suited to his education, abilities, and skills. His first job was cleaning the bathrooms and floors at a pet store.

This is when Canal Alliance became a lifeline. 

As a client, Omar began to learn English through their free adult classes. But it didn’t take long for him to realize how strongly he aligned with Canal Alliance’s overall mission: to champion immigrants challenged by a lack of resources and an unfamiliar environment. He began to volunteer and, in time, Canal Alliance offered him a job as a technology instructor.   

It was during the financial crisis of 2008 that Tipping Point Community’s involvement became a critical turning point for Canal Alliance. Tipping point helped create a Chief Operating Officer position, for which Omar applied. “My boss was recommending me to become their boss!”

Tipping Point intentionally invested in every single key aspect of Canal Alliance’s business development. In addition to the COO position, Tipping Point also invested in a full financial audit, strategic planning, HR overhaul, and a state-of-the-art data tracking system. “Canal Alliance was close to a $3 million organization without any reserves,” Omar said. “Now, we operate at closer to $15 million and have six months of reserves.” 

From one step away from disappearing from the community, Canal Alliance is now one of the strongest nonprofits in the county.

As a multi-service organization, Canal Alliance educates, empowers, supports, and partners with motivated immigrants and their families to best meet all their unique needs—from putting food on the table, to becoming U.S. citizens, learning English, to graduating from college. 

Each year, Canal Alliance provides education, career development, and health services for over 4,800 individuals. In one of the least equitable counties in the nation, the area’s residents lead neighborhood planning, economic development, and climate resilience efforts that will impact the future of the region for many years to come. This approach has become a model for communities across the state.

“We manage the biggest food distribution in the county,” Omar said recently. “We have a youth program, we have workforce development. We do policy work.” It’s not unusual for Canal Alliance to interact with elected officials who were once former clients. 

From client to volunteer, frontline staff member to CEO, Omar Carrera understands the immigration journey. He knows what it feels like to leave everything to come to the United States and has triumphed over the challenges so many individuals and their families desire to overcome. As a leader, he holds a deep solidarity with the resilience and hope it takes to create something better in life. 

Canal Alliance believes everyone has the right to achieve their dreams. Because when we support immigrants, Marin becomes a place where everyone can live, work, and succeed.