Alumna Makes It Her Business to Help Others Succeed
Growing up on the Navajo reservation in Arizona, Erica Ben noticed something that would later spark her career interest.
The businesses in her community were limited, forcing the residents to travel for two hours outside of the reservation for groceries and other essentials. Also, the faces of the owners didn’t look like hers.
“I noticed that people on the reservation who owned businesses weren’t Native,” Ben said. “That was one of the biggest issues for me. Later, traveling back and forth between California and the reservation, it really clicked. That’s how I later landed on business as a major.”
Those early experiences stayed with Ben (’18, business administration, ’20 MBA), who established EmpowerStart Business Services about a year ago, a firm that helps people, specifically from the Indigenous community, navigate the red tape that comes with setting up a business — from making sure they comply with state and federal regulations to assisting them with working out a budget and payroll.
“The work associated with a business is the easy part,” Ben said. “The paperwork is the part that can get tricky.”
The Power of Giving
For Ben, the desire to help others has been the theme of her educational and career journeys.
She attended the Sherman Indian School, a boarding school in Riverside, for her freshman and part of her sophomore year of high school and then transferred and graduated from Arroyo Valley High School in San Bernardino. She attended San Bernardino Valley College and Mt. SAC, but she didn’t really really know what she wanted to do.
“I went the route of changing majors and then restarting,” she said.
She transferred to Norco College for a year and a half and decided that business would be her focus. Ben came to CPP in fall 2016 as a management and human resources student and added a minor in Native American studies. CPP helped Ben grow in a lot of ways, she said.
“My experience as a student at CPP was wonderful,” she said. “That’s where I got involved in so much from clubs to mentoring. I helped (Ethnic and Women’s Studies Professor) Dr. Sandy Dixon as a research assistant.”
Ben also got involved in CPP’s Native American Student Pipeline Program to help recruit Indigenous students.
The university’s become-by-doing, hands-on learning philosophy, the variety of majors, the location and the natural of beauty of the campus make CPP an ideal place for Indigenous students, Ben said.
Shortly after completing her bachelor’s degree, she continued at CPP, but this time as staff, working as an administrative coordinator in the ethnic and women’s studies department.
One the accomplishments she is most proud of increasing the number of students minoring in Native American studies, estimating that she got more than 80 students in the program.
“Most of the time, students would take one or two of the courses, but I told them by adding a minor, it would be great for their resume. It shows that you are invested in diverse cultures, which is important whether you work in education, become a doctor or go into business.”
Ben went on to earn her MBA at CPP and completed her doctorate in business administration at California Intercontinental University in 2025. She currently works in the procurement department at UC Riverside.
The Importance of Advocacy
Even after leaving CPP, Ben continues to be involved with the university.
She teams up with Professor Dixon, her mentor, to work on a summer pipeline program for Indigenous students. Ben also helps to plan the annual Harvest Day Dinner, an event open to the entire campus community that deconstructs Thanksgiving and celebrates Indigenous culture, traditions and food. She recently gave a talk to students on campus about careers in business. She has worked with EOP and Bronco Scholars as well.
Ben juggles her volunteer activities with work, her business and caring for her 14-year-old daughter. She also is a foster parent raising nieces and nephews and volunteers in the court system to assist Indigenous families in need. Ben also has taught free classes in the Navajo language, which she grew up speaking, doing her part to keep it alive for future generations.
She emphasizes the importance of education in all her roles, whether mentoring students, giving a talk, teaching or parenting.
“I am a big advocate for students to pursue education,” Ben said. “It doesn’t matter how old you are or whether you think you are smart enough. It just takes that one person cheering you on and having somebody to talk to.”