The Mexican Heritage Corporation, the operating organization of the Mexican Heritage Plaza, was founded by a group of San José's Mexican-American community leaders led by then-Vice Mayor Blanca Alvarado (now a Santa Clara County Supervisor) and Fernando Zazueta, a prominent local attorney. Their original goal was to develop the city's first Mexican cultural garden.

That vision grew into a 55,000 square-foot cultural center with state of the art theatrical venues, a Smithsonian-affliate gallery space and luscious thematic gardens that serve as a regional resource for cultural programming and education. Built in association with the City of San José and the San José Redevelopment Agency, it is one of the largest Latino cultural centers in the nation.