LOS ANGELES — Richard Amador Sr., a California-born son of migrant farmworkers who became a nationally recognized expert in community economic development and helped create thousands of jobs for East Los Angeles residents, has died. He was 75.

Amador died of esophageal cancer Sept. 19 at his home in the Monterey Park neighborhood of L.A., said his daughter, Cynthia Amador-Diaz.

In 1967, Amador founded what became known as CHARO Community Development Corp., a nonprofit community and economic development organization that was headquartered in East L.A. for more than four decades.

By the time he retired as president and chief executive in early 2003, CHARO had been listed by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the top 12 Latino nonprofits in the United States and reportedly was the leading job-placement agency in Los Angeles.

At the time, CHARO had facilitated the funding of more than $26 million in small business and commercial loans to hundreds of small businesses, and its career center had placed more than 16,000 primarily East L.A. residents in jobs.

“Richard Amador Sr. was a wonderful pioneer and mentor for many leaders in Los Angeles and throughout the region,” Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.