02-04-2025
Building Trust And Access For Healthier Latino Communities
Erik Cárdenas co-founded Zócalo Health to increase access to clinical and social care and improve ... More patient experiences for underserved communities.
In this Q&A, Sorenson Impact Institute VC & Impact Investing Senior Associate Hunter Conrad talks with Erik Cárdenas, Co-Founder and CEO of Zócalo Health, to learn how the company leans into community and connection to increase access to clinical and social care and improve patient experiences for underserved communities. The Sorenson Impact Foundation, which invests in innovative impact business models enabling resilience, opportunity, and higher quality of life for low-income populations, invested in Zócalo Health in 2024.
Erik Cárdenas founded Zócalo Health to help address the healthcare needs of Latinos and other underserved populations, and in turn, help build more resilient communities and a stronger economy. As Cárdenas describes, connecting underserved groups with quality healthcare is a foundational step that creates rippling impact: 'When someone gains access to quality care, it doesn't just improve their health; it strengthens the foundation of their household, boosts workforce productivity, and reduces long-term healthcare costs for the system as a whole,' Cárdenas says.
The United States healthcare system faces significant challenges in delivering effective, equitable and accessible care – particularly for low-income communities, people of color, and rural communities. High costs, complex insurance structures, and limited access to primary and preventive care exacerbate disparities, leaving millions underserved or without care altogether–despite the U.S. spending a staggering 18% of GDP on healthcare costs. Because social determinants of health (SDoH) such as housing, education, food access, and transportation are key drivers of health, low-income communities are at elevated risk for poor health outcomes. Zócalo Health's focus on increasing access to quality care by meeting patients where they are in their communities with a holistic care model demonstrated clear alignment with the Sorenson Impact Foundation's investment thesis in the health sector. In addition to the impact for individuals achieved through better health outcomes, a community-based, preventative model such as Zócalo has the potential to reduce reliance on costly, reactive healthcare interventions and more effectively manage chronic conditions, thereby reducing overall costs to the system.
'At a macro level, healthcare equity is a matter of national stability,' Cárdenas says. 'The U.S. Latino population is projected to reach nearly 30% of the total population by 2050. Ensuring that this growing demographic has access to high-quality, culturally competent healthcare isn't just the right thing to do — it's a necessity for the country's economic and social future.'
Zócalo Health aims to make a lasting impact by providing culturally aligned services that build trust between the Latino community and healthcare providers. 'It's not just about logistics — it's about deeply ingrained cultural beliefs that shape how Latinos engage with healthcare,' Cárdenas says. 'In California, which is the first market where we are operating, Latinos make up over 50% of the Medicaid population, yet they experience worse health outcomes and lower engagement than other Medicaid members because the system does not meet their needs from a language and cultural perspective.'
The community health workers at Zócalo Health, who are hired and trained locally, are familiar with the challenges their patients face. With this perspective, they can better help clients navigate the healthcare system, identify benefits they qualify for, and connect them with support for housing, food, transportation, and other essential services.
For Cardenas, access to healthcare is an essential pathway to empowerment. He recently joined me for a conversation about the community-based services that Zócalo Health provides and how they support the company's mission to shape a more equitable healthcare system.
Hunter Conrad: Please share a bit about why you established Zócalo and the services it provides. How do they accommodate some of the unique challenges that Latinos face in accessing healthcare services?
Erik Cárdenas: Zócalo Health was born out of both a personal and professional calling. Growing up in a predominantly Mexican neighborhood in Houston, I saw firsthand how Latino families struggle to access culturally responsive, affordable, and trustworthy healthcare. Too often, the system feels like an impenetrable maze, particularly for Latinos on Medicaid, who face language barriers, provider shortages, and a deep mistrust of institutions due to years of systemic neglect. Many don't know what benefits they qualify for or how to navigate the system. Others face social barriers like food insecurity, unstable housing, or a lack of transportation, all of which directly impact health.
Zócalo Health was created to remove these barriers and provide whole-person care that reflects how Latinos actually engage with healthcare — not how the system expects them to. Our model blends primary care, behavioral health, and community support services through bilingual, culturally competent providers and trusted promotoras de salud (community health workers) who guide members through every step of their care.
We also take a flexible approach to care delivery that includes extended hours for working families, proactive outreach, and virtual, in-home, and community-based options. By meeting people where they are, honoring their lived experiences, and eliminating friction points, we're not just delivering healthcare — we're creating a system that Latinos trust and feel ownership over.
HC: How does Zócalo help individuals access and navigate the healthcare system – helping to overcome language barriers and a lack of systematic trust?
EC: For many Latinos, healthcare isn't just inaccessible — it's alienating. The system is complex, bureaucratic, and historically unwelcoming, leaving people feeling dismissed, misunderstood, or afraid to engage at all.
At Zócalo, we bridge this gap by prioritizing trust, language accessibility, and cultural alignment. Our promotoras de salud, who are trusted members of the Latino community, help individuals understand their Medicaid benefits and enroll in services. They go beyond logistics to help address deeply ingrained cultural beliefs that shape how Latinos engage with healthcare. By embedding trust into every interaction, removing language barriers, and simplifying the process, Zócalo Health doesn't just connect Latinos to care — we rebuild confidence in the system itself.
HC: How does access to healthcare play out beyond these individuals — to their families, communities, the economy, and society as a whole?
EC: In Latino communities, familismo — the cultural emphasis on family — is central to how people live, work, and make decisions. When one family member struggles with a chronic condition, mental health challenge, or unaddressed medical need, it affects everyone. A parent managing uncontrolled diabetes without proper support, for example, may miss work frequently, be unable to care for their children, or experience financial strain from ER visits. A child with undiagnosed asthma might struggle in school, impacting their future opportunities. By ensuring that individuals — especially parents and caregivers — have access to preventive and ongoing care, we're not just improving their lives; we're creating a more stable, healthier environment for entire families.
Latinos are the backbone of many industries in the U.S., including agriculture, construction, service, and hospitality. Yet, these same workers often lack access to employer-sponsored healthcare, making Medicaid their primary — if not only — option. Without access to preventive care, minor health issues can escalate into major problems that take individuals out of the workforce, destabilizing families and the local economy.
While we are a venture-backed startup, we are deeply committed to social impact. We don't just deliver care; we invest in the very communities we serve. One of the most powerful ways we do this is by hiring and developing community health workers from the same neighborhoods where our patients live. This has impact on two critical fronts:
This workforce development approach is a sustainable model for economic empowerment. Rather than relying on external organizations to provide social services, we are building economic opportunity directly within the community, ensuring that wealth and expertise remain where they are needed most.
From a broader economic perspective, when individuals have stable employment, access to healthcare, and career growth opportunities, they are better positioned to support their families, contribute to local economies, and break cycles of poverty that have persisted for generations.
HC: How does Zócalo work with health plans to coordinate care and clinical services?
EC: Zócalo Health is redefining how healthcare is delivered to Latino communities, and a critical part of that mission is our partnerships with Medicaid health plans. While we started in California, where we provide Enhanced Care Management (ECM) and community support services, our model is scalable and replicable. We are actively expanding to other states because the challenges we address — low engagement, fragmented care, and unmet social needs — are not unique to California. Health plans across the country need solutions that effectively reach, engage, and care for underserved populations, and that is exactly what we do.
California is home to the largest Latino population in the U.S., and Medicaid plays a vital role in ensuring healthcare access for this community. Despite this, Latinos continue to face significant barriers to care. We provide a community-centered, tech-enabled model that goes beyond traditional clinical care. Our services include ECM for Medicaid members with complex medical and social needs. We also connect Medicaid patients with bilingual, culturally competent providers. By embedding trusted community relationships into our care model, we increase engagement, improve health outcomes, and lower the total cost of care — key priorities for our health plan partners.
HC: Describe how you've seen access to healthcare change people's lives.
EC: We see every day how trust in healthcare can mean the difference between fear and hope, isolation and engagement. For many Latinos, especially those navigating the uncertainty of immigration policies, fear has become a barrier to care. Patients tell us they avoid leaving their homes, even for basic needs, worried that seeking help could expose them to risks beyond their health.
One woman, a Medicaid recipient, had been living in self-imposed isolation, afraid to step outside. She had ignored her own medical needs for months, unsure where to turn. But through Zócalo, she found a safe space. Our promotoras de salud reached out, listened without judgment, and connected her to essential resources.
Her story is not unique. Forty percent of Medicaid recipients report receiving care from someone they don't trust. We believe healthcare must earn that trust first. No one prioritizes heart health if they're worried about keeping the lights on, and no one focuses on managing diabetes when they fear losing their home.
This is why Zócalo Health exists: to meet people where they are, listen first, and create a system they feel safe engaging with. Only when people feel safe can they truly take charge of their health.
Hunter Conrad is a Senior Associate on the Impact Investing team at the Sorenson Impact Institute, where she focuses on driving health equity through strategic investments. With a passion for creating positive social change, Conrad leverages her expertise in building and scaling products in startups to identify and support ventures that address systemic health disparities and improve outcomes for underserved communities. She holds a bachelor's degree in Environmental Health from UC Berkeley and an MBA from the University of Utah where she won the 2024 Kellogg-Morgan Stanely Sustainable Investing Challenge.
Erik Cárdenas is the co-founder and CEO of Zócalo Health, a tech-enabled, value-based care provider dedicated to serving entire Latino households facing complex health challenges and unmet social needs. Focused on Medicaid families in underserved communities, Zócalo Health delivers culturally aligned care by meeting individuals where they are, supported by multidisciplinary care teams centered around the effective use of community health workers. Prior to launching Zócalo Health, Cárdenas was a founding team member and senior leader at Amazon Care, where he played a crucial role in leading technical teams and significantly contributed to Amazon's COVID-19 response and global testing initiatives. His entrepreneurial spirit and expertise in health systems are also reflected in his leadership roles at Tenet Health and EverlyWell. Cárdenas earned his undergraduate degree from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, TX. In 2023, he was recognized by Modern Healthcare, Fierce Pharma, and Rock Health for his innovative contributions to healthcare.
