Education & Empowerment for Girls in Guatemala

Girl Pioneers graduate from high school and unlock the power of the Girl Effect

41 Girl Pioneers achieve a milestone on their trajectory to success and become the second class of graduates to earn a high school diploma from the MAIA Impact School.

It is with great happiness and pride that we present the second generation of Girl Pioneers who graduated from the MAIA Impact School in 2022. These bold young women joined the MAIA Impact School in 2018, full of enthusiasm and dreams, with the ambition to become young professionals, to learn, and, above all, with the great desire to continue studying to create a positive impact for themselves, their families, and their communities.

"I will remember them with those dreams and goals they wanted to achieve and with that passion with which they prepared themselves to generate positive changes," shares Mentorship Coordinator Irma Tzay on this special occasion.

Rigoberta Menchú, Nobel Prize winner and Indigenous and women rights activist, also joined the MAIA graduation ceremony virtually, as godmother of this second cohort of MAIA young leaders. She shared a message of hope and strength: “A woman needs to envision a purposeful and proactive agenda. Make your life plan so that you can take transformative actions.”

Many Challenges Overcome

From day one, Indigenous girls and women face four challenges in their lives (they live in poverty, they live in rural areas, they are women, and they are Indigenous), on top of high levels of discrimination and inequality. However, this new generation of leaders overcame each of these challenges through their empowerment and access to high-quality education. They walked steadily on the path to building a society without stereotypes, violence, or inequality.

In addition, the global COVID-19 pandemic posed another obstacle that, in various ways, impacted Girl Pioneers and their families, as well as all our team of educators, mentors, directors, and MAIA collaborators. However, this did not stop us but instead brought us closer together. We continue to work as a team to make visible the achievement of each one of them and systemic change.

"After seeing their journey, I see them as young women with their own identity and a unique life project," says Mayra Choc, Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator.

At MAIA, we witness how Girl Pioneers are unlocking the Girl Effect and their empowerment. They took a courageous bet and decided to change their lives through education—now, they use their empowered voice and leadership to transform their context with equity and justice.

This second generation of Girl Pioneer graduates will continue at the university the following year, carry out professional internships, or even enter the formal economy. Nothing stops them on the way to reaching their full potential. They are the solution and the future.

Education is a tool that Indigenous girls and young women in Guatemala need to change their realities and build their own futures.

Thank you for investing in Girl Pioneers and being a part of the solution!