MEET
Apolonia Valero Gonzáles
From making coffee for her family to leading a thriving community nursery, Aonia’s journey shows how persistence and passion can grow a lifelong dream.
Her journey
Apolonia has worked with coffee since she was a child. Her father tended the family’s small coffee plots, and she grew up learning every step. For years, she made coffee mostly for her own family, carefully selecting the best beans. “It was the best coffee,” she laughs, “but just for us.” When local coffee leader Don Marce noticed her skill, he encouraged her to sell a little. One quintal at a time, Apolonia’s coffee began reaching neighbors and friends—still outside any cooperative, but the first step into a bigger world.
Apolonia didn’t stop there. She attended a coffee course with her husband, sharpening her knowledge of processing and quality. She met Jonathan (Ombligo de Luna), who encouraged her to join a cooperative, but the rules didn’t yet allow new members. Still, she kept going, selling coffee individually, learning from others, and slowly building confidence. Over two decades, Apolonia’s tiny coffee practice grew into a family enterprise, involving her children in planting, harvesting, and processing.
“I want to grow so that when I can no longer work every day, my family can carry on the project”
Key learnings
“Water was the hardest,” she recalls. Managing her small farm’s irrigation challenged every plan. But through trial, error, and community support, Apolonia discovered that leadership meant persistence—and teaching others along the way. She learned to balance the day-to-day work with long-term planning, making every decision about sustainability and quality. She also discovered a joy in sharing knowledge, guiding her children to carry forward what she started.
Transformation
Today, Apolonia is the heart of her coffee project. She leads the washing and processing of coffee herself, while her children support the work around her. With capital seed funding, she revitalized her nursery, growing high-quality plants for sale locally. Her confidence as a leader has grown alongside her business: she is not just producing coffee, but cultivating the next generation of farmers.
About Apolonia’s Project
NAME OF THE PROJECT
Verde Vida
REGION / COUNTRY
Rincóntongo, Mexico
SEED FUND FROM BV
$541 USD
PROJECT TYPE
Home Gardens
Looking ahead
Apolonia dreams bigger. In three to five years, she wants a larger nursery, producing enough plants so her community doesn’t have to buy from outside—and risking disease from imported plants. She hopes to expand her knowledge, attend more training, and continue teaching her children the skills she has honed over a lifetime. “I want to grow so that when I can no longer work every day, my family can carry on the project,” she says. Her story is one of persistence, learning, and a vision that reaches beyond herself.