Where Opportunity and Community Grow Together
We create tools, content, and experiences that support financial literacy, family well-being, and generational wealth that is designed for families historically excluded from the financial system.
About Us
Cultivar Communities is for families like yours. We are a family-rooted initiative, built by people who know that building a good life can be hard-won. We focus on economic mobility through financial education, empowering the dreamers and the fighters with the knowledge, confidence, and tools to grow their financial futures, one decision at a time.
Our flagship program, Cultivar Kids, delivers culturally relevant financial literacy to young people and parents in underserved communities using behavioral science, storytelling, and real-world learning.
We also create space for reflection and growth through retreats in New Mexico and Texas designed to reconnect families with culture, confidence, and community.
We envision a future where every family has the tools to build wealth and wellness where neighborhoods thrive from the inside out.
We focus on the space where access exists but engagement often fades, helping families turn opportunity into lasting progress.
We design tools and content that build generational wealth from the inside out.
Engaging content built by and for young creators
Financial literacy curriculum for youth, parents, and educators
Digital and in-person tools rooted in behavioral learning
Culturally grounded financial education
Community partnerships that amplify trusted voices
A New Kind of Learning: Rooted in Culture, Built for Life
We believe financial knowledge is a right, not a privilege
We meet families where they are - in classrooms, homes, and online
We root our work in lived experience, because we’ve walked this path too. Our content is culturally rich, built on trust, and honors the heritage and hard-earned wisdom already present in your family. We help families build confidence, habits, and intergenerational assets
We’re building systems that center people, not institutions
Our mission is to shift mindsets and transform futures by helping families like you feel capable, confident, and rooted in your own power.
Arellana Barela Levenson
President, Cultivar Communities
Arellana Barela Levenson leads Cultivar Communities with a blend of financial expertise, community experience, and lived family perspective. She began her career as a bank CFO where she saw how financial systems often overlook the realities of home life. Her work later expanded into community leadership at Prosperity Works where she saw how trust, identity, and culture shape the way families use financial tools.
During her graduate work at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, Arellana researched financial inclusion, behavioral science, and the conditions that support early financial identity. That work helped inform Cultivar’s approach which supports families in building confidence through identity, culture, and everyday practice.
As a mom raising five kids, she brings a grounded understanding of how money conversations actually happen at home. Her leadership reflects the mix of professional discipline and lived experience that families recognize and trust. Arellana is a 2026 Presidential Leadership Scholar.
As we grow, our vision remains simple: we want to help families build wealth, wellness, and a true sense of belonging. This work is deeply personal for us—it’s inspired by the grit and loyalty we've seen in our own parents and communities. We believe families, when they have the right tools, are capable of shaping futures rooted in pride, purpose, and possibility. We sit at the kitchen table with you, not across from you.
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