Sara Gonzalez, a 2007 Purpose Prize Winner, died unexpectedly yesterday in her adopted hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.

Gonzalez, 72, was selected from among more than 1,000 nominees to win a $10,000 Purpose Prize for her breakthroughs as President and CEO of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. During her tenure, she incubated hundreds of Hispanic businesses, all after she turned 60, in a tremendously fruitful encore career.

Gonzalez, who fled from her native Cuba in 1960 and eventually settled in Atlanta with her two children, started a fledging restaurant without a business plan. In a recent profile in The Wall Street Journal, Gonzalez reflected, “I was very optimistic, but I had no background in business and didn’t do any market research.” She went on to say, “I soon found out Atlanta in 1978 wasn’t ready for an authentic Cuban restaurant.”

Gonzalez never forgot her early struggles and eventually worked in the nonprofit sector as a community relations officer for the Atlanta Committee for The Olympic Games. There, she made an impression on the board of directors of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, who hired her — when she was in her 60s — to direct the organization.

According to Census Bureau data, Georgia is the third fastest-growing state for Hispanics in the country. Gonzalez, who stayed atop demographic trends, steered hundreds of would-be entrepreneurs — from retail store owners to import-export specialists to day care center operators — to go into business for themselves.

Gonzalez recently opened a satellite incubator office in Savannah and had hoped to assist more Latinos in becoming self-sufficient business owners.

“From my own work, I see the incredible promise of Latino entrepreneurship,” said Gonzalez in her Purpose Prize interviews. “We must encourage and support these creative endeavors, especially those that help people improve their lives and communities. The Purpose Prize is a critical opportunity for Latino innovators to receive the recognition — and funding — that can strengthen their effectiveness and results.”

Those, like me, who met Gonzalez at the Purpose Prize Innovation Summit, remember that she gave an incredibly heartfelt and articulate acceptance speech upon receiving the award in front of her family and friends. She recounted, through tears, how as a new immigrant she would never have guessed that she would one day be honored with a national award in her adopted country.

The honor was all ours.