Network

Founder and CEO Paula Tejeda grew up in both Chile and New York City, before moving to San Francisco where she observed many intersecting interests between California and Chile. Soon it became clear to Tejeda that Chilean cultural events presented in the Bay Area lacked a marketing network. Regardless of the notoriety of the artist or event—whether it was a concert by a renowned musician or a live talk by a Chilean film director at the San Francisco International Film Festival—no one was conducting outreach to a target audience interested in Chile/South America. Tejeda perceived this shortfall two decades ago and embarked on her vision—to serve as an outreach capacity coordinator and to build a network—in conjunction with establishing a classic Chilean empanada shop.

In 2009, Tejeda’s motivation and entrepreneurial drive led her to become an active participant in San Francisco’s iconic street food movement (predecessors to the food trucks). The street food scene came about at the outset of twitter, and Tejeda’s social media presence thrived.

The Chile Lindo Deli & Coffee Shop serves as production headquarters for the Network, as customers join Tejeda’s newsletter contact list—which boasts an unprecedented 25% average open rate. Tejeda’s newsletter and Chile Lindo’s social-Networking sites serve to promote all things Chilean taking place in the Bay Area, and the Network’s formidable outreach capacity reaches a wide and growing cross-section of the community.

Tejeda’s broad experience in production keeps her actively interested in managing and developing a broad array of projects. Having studied Media Communications at Laney College and San Francisco State University, Tejeda was awarded an Internship at KTVU Channel 2 in the ‘80s, in Oakland, CA, where she produced community affairs programming for the station. Following the Internship at KTVU, Tejeda was subsequently awarded an internship at KPIX Channel 5 in San Francisco where she assisted in the production of segments for the hit television program Evening Magazine.

Desirous of sharing her love of the two cultures and her insights into their similarities and differences, Tejeda worked toward fostering California-Chile interchange through both her local San Francisco Chile Lindo Deli & Coffee Shop and the functions of the Chile Lindo Network: consulting, marketing, production, and interpersonal links between Chileans and Californians. Tejeda is intimately cognizant of the specificities of each culture, and, embracing both the commonalities and divergences, she is in a unique position to foster first-rate outreach services between California and Chile.

Tejeda serves as a strategic outreach coordinator for the Pendergast Consulting Group and specializes in outreach to the Latino and Small Business communities in San Francisco.

Tejeda served on the Sausalito-Viña del Mar Sister Cities Council, and was named Cultural Ambassador of the City of Viña del Mar, in 2012.