José Alvarez

About

José Alvarez serves as Vice President for Prospera North Carolina, where he leads efforts to expand opportunities for entrepreneurs through business consulting, strategic partnerships, and economic empowerment initiatives. For more than 25 years, he has dedicated his career to supporting Latino and non-Latino entrepreneurs as they pursue business ownership and greater economic opportunity.

In his role, José manages a team of business consultants who deliver specialized, culturally relevant programming across North Carolina while collaborating with local and state governments, chambers of commerce, corporate partners, and economic development organizations. He also serves on several statewide boards, further strengthening North Carolina's entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Under José's leadership, Prospera North Carolina has provided one-on-one consulting to nearly 2,000 entrepreneurs, trained more than 3,000 business seminar participants, facilitated $8 million in capital, and supported the creation or retention of more than 2,000 jobs. During the organization's first four years in North Carolina, its work generated an estimated $126.7 million in statewide economic output.

José brings decades of experience supporting entrepreneurs through business advising, economic development, and access to resources, offering valuable perspective to the SBCN Startup Showdown judging panel.