Andrea Gonzalez hoped to be a Philly community planning leader. Her sudden death leaves a void, loved ones and colleagues say

Andrea Gonzalez was a familiar sight biking around Philadelphia, helping community members connect with resources, and most recently, planning her wedding.

Last month, however, a bicycling crash left a void for the hundreds of Philadelphians she helped. Gonzalez, 33, was killed when her bike was struck by a car while she was riding in Cherry Hill.

Born in New York state but raised in Mexico, Gonzalez described herself as both an immigrant and a Philadelphian at heart.

She had earned a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Pennsylvania, the end of quite an odyssey. “It took me 11 years to go from learning English as a second language,” she told Al Día News in 2022 after being recognized with a 40 Under Forty award for her leadership work in Philadelphia’s Latino community.

“Five years from now, I will be a well-established and recognized voice of authority in community planning representing the interests of the Hispanic community of Philadelphia in front of politicians, developers, and city officials,” she added.

That vision ended Oct. 21. Cherry Hill police did not provide further details on what happened, but said the investigation is ongoing. As her family and friends grapple with the loss, her sister Michelle Gonzalez hopes Andrea is remembered as “an immigrant, a badass, and an urban planner that paved the way for so many people.” Associates in the Latino business community say that her loss will be felt, but that her impact will live on.

Gonzalez moved to Philly in 2018. Her first way of connecting to the local community was through the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. Michelle Gonzalez can still remember how excited Andrea was to be helping community members learn how to ride bikes.

“It made her so happy to be able to be there holding the [seat] and being the person who got to give them the little push as my dad did with us when we were learning,” Michelle Gonzalez said.

Two years later, while the world shut down to face the pandemic, Andrea Gonzalez took the relationships she built with the community to her work at the Widener University Small Business Development Center, in Chester. As a consultant, she biked around Philly to connect with small Latino businesses, help them apply for permits, and access grants to stay open through the pandemic.

Alma Romero, owner of the Queer Eye-featured restaurant Alma del Mar, can still see Gonzalez coming into her restaurant with a bright smile, ready to help.

“She will sit here and translate all the forms for me because they were in English and I couldn’t understand,” Romero recalled. Gonzalez’s work helped Alma del Mar acquire its permit for outdoor dining.

In 2021, Gonzalez left the Widener center, but her efforts laid the groundwork for the formation of the Association of Mexican Business Owners of Philadelphia that same year.

Hector Herrada, president of the association, remembers that when it was time to form a board, Gonzalez was the first person they thought of.

“She was so generous with her knowledge, so invested in helping us, and the community trusts her,” said Herrada. “Her departure leaves a deep feeling of sadness and loss in the community.”

Gonzalez served on the board until her death. Under her guidance, and with the work of other members, the Association of Mexican Business Owners of Philadelphia went from 10 businesses to 40 formal members and 38 associate ones.

Her death, two weeks short from Day of the Dead celebrations, prompted an emergency meeting in the organization.

On Oct. 28, two Day of the Dead altars — one in Center City and one in South Philly — were announced in her memory but her picture was not added to adhere to Mexican tradition — a person’s picture can’t be placed on an altar until a year after the death, to not interrupt the journey into the beyond.

“Even without the photo everyone knew it was for her,” said Juan Carlos Romero, owner of Philly Tacos and a member of the association. “Someone even brought a white bicycle to the altar outside of Los Taquitos de Puebla.”

That same day, about 130 people gathered at Corinthian Gardens for a final goodbye organized by Gonzalez’s loved ones.

Michelle Gonzalez was aware of how many projects her sister was involved in, but said she didn’t fully understand her impact on the community until that gathering. As people shared stories and thanked her for Andrea’s contributions, a realization hit.

“Philly lost someone that really cared for the city,” Michelle Gonzalez said.

But, Andrea Gonzalez’s work went beyond Pennsylvania’s borders.

Projects Gonzalez was part of helped about 58,000 households in Los Angeles access housing vouchers, and more than 250,000 households in New York obtain emergency rental assistance, estimated Gregory Heller and Laura Slutsky, a director and associate director at Guidehouse, the consulting company where Andrea worked since 2022.

At the time of her death, Gonzalez was in the middle of a project to help preserve 800 to 1,500 housing units a year in Philadelphia.

A Day of the Dead Altar will be dedicated to her in 2024, and the Mexican Business Association plans to add a memorial on its website. In the meantime, Big Heat Cycling — a cycling team Gonzalez was part of — will hold a memorial ride for her on Nov. 25 at Corinthian Gardens.