Mosaic Changemakers: Cultivating Solidarity through Black, Brown and Gold Leaders in the US South
2025 Catalyst Fund Awardee
Renata Soto
Venture
Mosaic ChangemakersProgram
Catalyst FundLocation
Southern United States, United States
Year
2025An immigrant from a hardworking family in Costa Rica, Renata Soto brought her resilience, dedication, and love for Latin American culture to the US South, where she has lived for 30 years in cities such as Atlanta and Nashville. Renata founded the Mosaic Changemakers during her Pahara Fellowship in 2020 with Aspen Institute fellows John Simpkins and Tina Fernandez, who shared her understanding of the South and the need for an interconnected movement for justice among Black, Brown, and Gold communities, and that such a movement must be built upon authentic relationships and unwavering trust. While some forces seek to exploit the interconnected trends of growing diversity and growing disparities to heighten racial tensions and division, Mosaic has emerged as a counter-narrative and as a catalyst for unity and solidarity.
We’re about people—the changemakers of color, whether they’re behind the scenes or on the front lines, pushing for progress; the vibrant, multicultural society we’re building toward.
The core of this work is the transformative Mosaic Fellowship, a program designed to amplify both the individual and collective power of leaders of color. The program is designed with a specific focus on the South, respecting the region and its people. Mosaic Changemakers intentionally cultivates interdependence by bringing together an intergenerational and interdisciplinary cohort, encouraging individuals to forge connections across diverse communities, intersecting issues, and varied sectors, thereby developing equitable solutions. In 2025, the Fellows in the Southern cohort and Tennessee cohort included members from individual businesses, business groups, and incubators, other leadership programs, academia, civil rights and democracy groups, and government. Creating authentic links of trust between these communities is vital to building a civil society that can engage in dialogue and collaboration across differences, and foster solidarity that can manifest in tangible outcomes.
The impact of this unique approach is evident. Through seven cohorts, Mosaic has convened 125 leaders of color. Renata and her team strategically expanded their reach to encompass a growing network across Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina. The feedback from Fellows underscores the profound impact of the program, with 90% of Fellows ranking it among their most transformative professional experiences. Beyond individual growth, Mosaic is fostering a shift towards collective action. Fellows gain new tools and a refined mindset, enabling them to navigate the complexities of multicultural coalition-building with a balance of self-awareness, curiosity, humility, and an unwavering commitment to the pursuit of solidarity.
2024 Mosaic Changemakers in Weaving Our Web Activity
2019 Mosaic Changemakers Cohort