Louie Estrada, Zuzy Martin Lynch, Abuela

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Who Pays Us?

4 months ago

3 min read

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Our statement on who pays for what we do (and who doesn't) and how you can independently get involved to support us.

ken deckinger — Oh. Hello. ¡Este toro definitivamente no nos paga! *Photo credit: Ken Deckinger*

Weird title for a post, right? Weird subject? Indeed. Yet, it’s an important one, and one that people have asked us about. As such, I want to come out and make sure that we clear the air from the beginning. This is a community effort. Being completely transparent with you helps everyone stay better connected and feel most comfortable supporting what we do.

“We live in a complicated world, and we recognize that the work we do sits in the middle of that complicated world.”

The short answer is that this project is funded by You.

To sustain our platform, we make money through advertisements, sponsorships and partnerships with consumer and media brands that we respect and believe in and that align with our core values, and our newly created Patreon page. It’s how we stay independent and unaffiliated. We’re just a bunch of people who believe in breaking down cultural barriers between the US and Cuba and throughout Latin America, making connections and putting smiles on people’s faces while we do it.

Startup Cuba Co-Founder and Executive Producer, Ken Deckinger. *Photo credit: Karen Vierbuchen*

“I hope that you stay involved with what we’re doing. I hope that you learn something. I hope that we can make you smile.”

(BTW – You do realize that two of the greatest foods on the planet come from Latin America, right?: the Cuban sandwich and the al pastor taco, of course!)

We don’t take sides in the US–Cuba debate. (Well, that’s not completely true — we take the side of besos. Besos y abrazos. Whatever gets us there, that’s what we’re aiming for. Give us a path to besos and/or Cuban sandwiches and we’ll roll over like a puppy waiting for a belly rub.)

What I mean is that we are not involved, connected, associated, affiliated, aligned with or even in close proximity (the closest one is 440 miles/708 km away from us) to a government organization or government funding. We don’t —and won’t— take money from governments of any country.

We live in a complicated world, and we recognize that the work we do sits in the middle of that complicated world. We do, however, realize that complexity comes with the territory and that it makes our efforts all that much more important to us.

I hope that you stay involved with what we’re doing. I hope that you learn something. I hope that we can make you smile. And of course, if you’re so inclined, I hope that you’ll support us for $4/month on Patre on. It plays a small but important part in keeping us independently funded.