Social enterprise owned by indigenous mayan women

This quarter marked the beginning of a new and important stage to strengthen the economic autonomy of Indigenous women in Los Altos de Chiapas. We launched the Self-Managed Mentorship Model, a strategy designed to support the creation and consolidation of sustainable, ethical, and competitive productive units in the market. This initiative responds to the needs expressed by the participating communities, who seek to strengthen their productive and commercial capacities through a collaborative, intercultural, and long-term vision.

During this first stage —Training and Capacity Building— 18 women from different communities in Los Altos de Chiapas participated. A total of eight online sessions and one in-person session focused on design were held, combining collective and individualized mentorship spaces to strengthen knowledge in key areas such as product innovation, community-based administration, marketing strategies, and digital communication.

To facilitate their participation, educational and technological kits were delivered to 20 participants from communities including Aldama, Santiago El Pinar, Larraínzar, San Juan Cancuc, Huixtán, Venustiano Carranza, Tenejapa, Amatenango del Valle, and Chenalhó. These kits included design materials, stationery, work tools, and technological resources. In addition, Starlink internet connections were installed in Aldama, Aguacatenango, and Tenejapa, and internet service fees were covered for Aguacatenango, reducing the digital gap and ensuring the connectivity needed for the mentorship activities.

As part of the commercial strengthening strategy, spaces were created for participants to apply the skills and knowledge acquired during the training:

• Jlumaltik – Our Territories, held in collaboration with the San Cristóbal de las Casas Museum on September 13–14, brought together artisan groups from seven communities and more than 500 visitors for a cultural event that combined exhibitions, direct sales, discussions, music, and traditional food.
  
  
• Abierto Mexicano de Diseño 2025 (Mexico City), where participation in the exhibition Maleza. Diseño en Resistencia allowed the project to engage with diverse audiences, strengthen cultural alliances, and increase national visibility for the participating groups.
  
  
• Development of a sales display device in collaboration with an industrial design workshop, which involved a participatory design process with six community members and resulted in a dignified, functional display tool aimed at strengthening the commercial autonomy of artisan groups.
  
  

The mentorship process has opened new paths for innovation and community leadership. A group of young participants from one community decided to experiment with new brocade patterns to adapt their textile products to urban markets without losing their symbolic meaning. They presented their proposal in a local market, received positive feedback, and achieved their first sales, strengthening their confidence and entrepreneurial vision.

In the digital sphere, 18 participants received guidance to improve their presence on social media and open new sales channels. As part of this process, several members created accounts on digital platforms, generating their first interactions and direct sales. Additionally, the official account of one of the participating collectives was launched, gaining visibility and beginning to position its collective identity online.

This quarter marked the beginning of a process that combines technical training, organizational strengthening, and market engagement. In the coming months, the program will move into the implementation and market linkage phase, which includes product testing, the consolidation of commercial partnerships, and the exploration of collective financing mechanisms. This model represents a long-term strategy for women-led productive units to become sustainable drivers of development within their communities.

We deeply appreciate the ongoing support of the GlobalGiving community. Thanks to this network of solidarity, participants are accessing new tools, strengthening their skills, and building a pathway toward economic autonomy, collaboration, and dignity for their communities.

Links:

• NGOimpacto
• Juxta

Thanks to everyone who has generously donated through GlobalGiving. Your contributions have been essential in making possible this deep and collective journey of self-discovery, creativity, and empowerment for over 240 Tsotsil and Tseltal Indigenous women from Los Altos de Chiapas. Your support helped us take a decisive step toward building a shared vision of Lekil Kuxlejal—harmonious and dignified living.

We also warmly acknowledge the allies and organizations who continue to walk with us, complementing this work and strengthening the long-term sustainability of the project.

Over the past two years, we implemented the Dreams and Visions curriculum, designed to help women identify their personal and collective dreams, recognize their strengths and challenges, and build their own pathways forward—rooted in their territories, languages, and ancestral knowledge. This process was led by NGOimpacto’s Human Development team and culminated in a collective book that captures stories, drawings, photos, and testimonies from the women who are co-leaders of this textile movement.

This is not the end—it’s a beginning: the first creative outcome from this process was the “Ceremonial Dress” presented at Vancouver Fashion Week 2025, as part of the collection by Juxta, the social enterprise co-owned by Indigenous women. Made collaboratively by women from at least six municipalities, this piece reflects not only the rich techniques of their territories, but also their right to imagine and shape a dignified, self-determined future.

The dress required 956 hours of collaborative work and brings together a wide range of ancestral techniques: waist loom weaving from Aldama, intricate embroidery from Huixtán and Aguacatenango, hand-pleating, pompons crafted in Aldama, and hand stitching by women from Larráinzar and Tenejapa. What makes it even more meaningful is that the full-body cape features symbols, motifs and embroidered fragments drawn directly from the book Dreams and Visions — a way for the women to translate their reflections, desires, and collective goals into a wearable expression of identity.

Each textile and stitch embodies the voices, stories, and creative power of the women who co-own Juxta.

This ceremonial piece is the first step toward a new collective collection that will be designed by the women themselves—members and co-founders of Juxta—based on the dreams they shared during the Dreams and Visions journey.

Many women have expressed a desire to continue creating textiles that reflect their stories, connection to the land, and vision for the future. Dreams and Visions has become a strategic compass guiding where they want to go—as creators, community leaders, and co-owners of their social enterprise.

Today, we are weaving a different kind of story. One where design doesn’t come from outside but is born from within: from words, reflection, memory, and shared joy.

Thank you for walking alongside us. Every donation is a stitch in this fabric of autonomy, justice, and beauty.

Dreams we walk, visions we weave.

Links:

• NGOimpacto
• Juxta
• Colectiva Nudo 6/6