From left: Mileyka Burgos-Flores © Hey Fabian Photos; Little Santo Domingo district – Miami, Florida © National Trust Staff
Main Street America is proud to recognize Mileyka Burgos-Flores, Chief Executive Officer at The Allapattah Collaborative CDC (ACDC), as the 2024 Mary Means Leadership Award recipient. The prestigious award is Main Street America’s top honor recognizing individuals who demonstrate outstanding leadership in the field of comprehensive preservation-based economic development and commercial district revitalization. The 2024 Mary Means Leadership Award, sponsored by Regions Bank, was presented today at the closing plenary for the Main Street Now Conference in Birmingham, Alabama.
“The incredible breadth and depth of The Allapattah Collaborative’s impact is a testament to Mileyka Burgos-Flores’ leadership,” said Erin Barnes, President and CEO at Main Street America. “Mileyka’s unshakable vision, persevering spirit, and passionate dedication to centering longtime residents, cultivating relationships, and pursuing collective ownership models in order to safeguard the cultural fabric of Little Santo Domingo is making meaningful strides in the community.”
After years of organizing local leaders and business owners, Mileyka was tapped to implement recommendations presented in an equitable development action plan created by the community. The plan led to the establishment of ACDC in 2019 to preserve Little Santo Domingo, a historically Dominican commercial corridor in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood.
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Mileyka (left) and Santander Arguelles, Chief Program Officer at ACDC (right), present a crisis relief grant to a Small Business Resiliency Cohort participant. © The Allapattah Collaborative CDC
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Mileyka serving as an instructor for the first Allapattah Fellows Cohort in 2021. © The Allapattah Collaborative CDC
In just four years, Mileyka’s leadership has yielded incredible results for ACDC and the Little Santo Domingo community. ACDC’s signature Small Business Resiliency Cohort (SBRC) has worked with more than a hundred participants, providing highly tailored, culturally relevant technical assistance and crisis relief grants totaling over $3 million for the district’s small businesses. Mileyka’s achievements also include nurturing local leaders as advocates, cultivating a team of 11 passionate individuals, establishing ACDC as a preferred provided for small business services by Miami Dade County, and securing a $500,000 grant from the Miami Foundation Open for Business Program sponsored by Wells Fargo for the acquisition of community real estate that will advance historic preservation projects.
“I am humbled and honored to receive this distinguished award because representation matters. This recognition is the validation of the sweat equity, dreams, and investment of my community and those leaders who came before me paving the way with their pioneering spirit,” said Mileyka Burgos-Flores, Chief Executive Officer at The Allapattah Collaborative CDC. “Main Street has been instrumental in showing us that our community’s cultural authenticity, entrepreneurial spirit, and passion to achieve the American Dream is a vital part of the American fabric. The tenacity of our community drives me and the ACDC team to continue building a more inclusive and prosperous future.”