María Alejandra Barrios, POETA Communication Officer

The three institutions will collaborate to implement the VIVE Project—Come, Be Inspired, and Sell—and strengthen the economic empowerment of Mexican women. With this partnership, six states in Mexico will join the implementation of the VIVE Project. The project’s beneficiaries will participate in a Pitch Tank to access seed capital or business loans to grow their ventures. Mexico City, April 2, 2019.—The Trust for the Americas has formed a partnership with PROMUJER and CREA, institutions specializing in working with women entrepreneurs, to expand the implementation of the VIVE Project to 14 states in Mexico. To solidify this partnership, the institutions signed a collaboration agreement. During the event, María Fernanda Sierra, Manager of the VIVE Project, explained that this collaboration represents a step forward because “it allows us to join forces to empower women in Mexico and Latin America.” She also explained that the VIVE Project was launched in 2016 thanks to support from the Walmart Foundation, and over the years “we have benefited more than 50,000 people, 78 percent of whom are women living in vulnerable circumstances who are seeking to expand their technical and personal skills to improve their financial situation and quality of life.” For her part, Natalia Villapando, Director of CREA: Comunidades de Emprendedores AC, said that in 2017 “we served 893 women who received entrepreneurship loans through PROMUJER, and the findings were very interesting, because 91 percent of those women reported having experienced some form of violence. For this reason, in 2018 we formed a partnership with the VIVE Project, which implemented a module on the prevention of violence against girls and women; through this, we not only empowered them in their entrepreneurial endeavors but also in their daily lives.” In her remarks, Natalia Wills, Partnerships Officer at PROMUJER, emphasized that the institution has been working for years on the personal empowerment of women, but “we always like to go further; that’s why we seek out other institutions, and we’re delighted to join forces with the VIVE Project and The Trust for the Americas, which have demonstrated that their methodology works and can provide more tools to women entrepreneurs.” This partnership will enable 11 women from 14 states across Mexico to access seed capital to grow their businesses and further their economic empowerment. The training covers topics such as customer service, sales, entrepreneurship, personal skills, and the prevention of violence against girls and women. The VIVE Project has trained more than 51,000 people nationwide over the past two years. Of the total number of people trained, more than 38,000 are women (40% of whom are female heads of household). In addition, nearly 7,000 people were connected to economic opportunities (86% women; 60% were placed in full-time jobs, and 21% became self-employed or launched entrepreneurial projects). According to the independent evaluation (GENERA 2018), graduates of the VIVE Project feel empowered after participating, with an increase in their self-perception and ability to make decisions independently without the intervention of others.  More than 75% of the female graduates perceive an increase in their ability to make decisions independently, with an increase of between 20% and 60% percentage points between the treatment group and the control group. About The Trust for the Americas: The Trust for the Americas is a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS) whose mission is to promote partnerships for economic and social inclusion in the Americas. Established in 1997, The Trust was created to facilitate the participation of the public sector, the private sector, and civil society initiatives in social and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The organization’s initiatives improve communities’ access to economic opportunities, enhance public safety, and foster opportunities for democratic expression and good governance.  The Trust for the Americas offers local partner organizations training tools, services, products, and technical assistance to better serve vulnerable communities in the region.  Visit: www.trustfortheamericas.org www.trust-oea.org/vive Facebook: The Trust for the Americas ProyectoVIVEmx Twitter:   @Trust4Americas @ProyectoVIVEmx About CREA Comunidades de Emprendedores Sociales, A.C. For the past 10 years, we have been developing and implementing programs with proven impact to empower and support women entrepreneurs and business owners in socially and/or economically marginalized areas. At CREA, we share knowledge through educational programs that strengthen both soft and hard skills. We seek to make a difference in the lives of women entrepreneurs who want to launch a business idea or expand an existing one. About PRO Mujer Regional: Founded in 1990 in Bolivia, Pro Mujer is a leading social enterprise driven by its mission to empower women in Latin America through a range of financial, health, and skills-development services that help them reach their full potential. Over the past 29 years, Pro Mujer has disbursed more than $3.6 billion in small loans, provided more than 9 million health services, and impacted two million women in Argentina, Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru.

The VIVE Project—Come, Be Inspired, and Sell—trained 22 women in the municipality of Los Cabos in Baja California Sur. Ana Karen Salomón, a community liaison, and Xóchitl Salvidar, the project facilitator, noted that thanks to their outreach efforts, they were able to complete two training sessions in one week. The first group consisted of 10 women—single mothers—who receive support from the nonprofit organization Los Niños del Capitán. “This partnership was established with support from México Giveaways. The women received training in customer service and the prevention of violence against girls and women,” said Ana Karen Salomón. Los Niños del Capitán provides academic support and daycare for the children of mothers and fathers living in vulnerable circumstances. Another course concluded in the town of Palmas, in the same municipality, where 12 women living in the community organized themselves to receive training from the VIVE Project on the topics of customer service, sales, marketing, advocacy, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Resume Writing, and Prevention of Violence Against Girls and Women. The Trust for the Americas continues to work in coordination with local organizations to provide economic opportunities and benefit more women in Mexico.

75 Indigenous women from the Wirrárica community in Mezquitic received training in sales and customer service. Jalisco, Mexico, March 22.—In 2016, Trust for the Americas launched the VIVE Project: Come, Be Inspired, and Sell—with the goal of providing tools to women in vulnerable situations. After nearly three years of work, we have succeeded in making an impact on women in addiction rehabilitation centers, women incarcerated, women who are victims of domestic violence, and some indigenous women’s communities. On this occasion, thanks to a partnership with Desarrollo Rural Sustentable LU’UM A.C., the VIVE Project reached La Cebolleta and La Laguna, two Wirrárica indigenous communities located in the municipality of Mezquitic, in the state of Jalisco. Over the course of a week, “I met women who lack the basics for daily life but strive every day to obtain them,” said Laura Hernández, a VIVE Project liaison who traveled for more than 7 hours to reach her first destination: La Cebolleta. La Cebolleta “After arriving in Mezquitic, I traveled another three hours toward La Cebolleta, driving along roads through the mountains. When we arrived, I was struck by how far apart the houses were from one another. Most are small, simple adobe houses, though some already have rainwater collection systems. This has benefited the community because the spring is an hour’s walk away,” said Laura Hernández. La Cebolleta is considered one of the most marginalized communities in Mexico; it has about 180 residents. Laura noted that “some homes already have electricity; they use firewood for cooking; the floors are dirt; and the bathrooms are outhouses with a curtain. It’s a community where the weather is extreme.” Its main economic activities are based on agriculture and the sale of handicrafts; the latter has opened important doors to paid work for women, though not with the economic independence that was hoped for. “It’s a community with deep-rooted traditions—some very beautiful, like the love for the land and all living things; others not so much, such as arranged marriages. I remember a 15-year-old girl who told us that her grandmother had already betrothed her, but she didn’t want to get married.” Laura Hernández, project liaison. The women in the community still do not speak Spanish, though some of them understand it. However, this was not a barrier preventing 45 Wirrárica women (known as Huichols—a term they describe as “offensive”) from receiving training in sales, customer service, and marketing. “Only the girls and boys speak Spanish; the adult women don’t, but thanks to LU’UM, I had the support of a translator who helped us make the course easier to understand. It was a unique experience because the day I arrived, they were already waiting for me; they were excited and eager to learn what I would teach them,” said the VIVE Project coordinator. Laura explained that thanks to LU’UM’s work, the women of the Wirrárica community have greater autonomy, but they are still “very serious. They told me that about nine years ago, if someone wanted to speak with a woman, a man from the community or her husband had to be present, and they would answer on her behalf. This time, they were the ones who answered all the questions, and that made me very happy.” After three days in La Cebolleta, Laura traveled for 45 minutes to the community of La Laguna. La Laguna “Access to La Laguna is more complicated; it’s all dirt roads and steep slopes—the scenery is breathtaking. The name doesn’t actually refer to the place, because there’s no water in this community either—there’s no lagoon. I visited this community because there were about 30 women who wanted training, but the conditions weren’t right for them to go to La Cebolleta.” La Laguna is also considered a highly marginalized community in the municipality of Mezquitic, Jalisco, where the sale of handicrafts plays an important role in the local economy. For this reason, the topics covered were sales, customer service, and marketing. “Most people are a bit rough around the edges when it comes to making sales; they don’t know how to treat people, and they don’t realize that they’re shoving things at customers or that their manners aren’t appropriate—that’s why we decided to offer this training,” explained Laura. “We thought we were serving customers well,” said Amalia Rodríguez, a graduate of the VIVE Project from La Cebolleta, who makes embroidered crafts such as earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. She told us that they had sold their goods before: “We thought we were serving our customers well, but in the course Laura taught us, I realized we were missing a lot. I liked the training; now I feel more confident. I know I can sell.” The women from La Cebolleta and La Laguna make trips to downtown Mezquitic to sell their products and have a community center where they also display them to people passing by. Desarrollo Rural Sustentable LU’UM A.C. has enabled women from these communities to travel to other states to sell and promote their products. “They already know the processes for pricing their products, but they lacked sales and customer service skills. Today, these 75 women have that knowledge thanks to the training provided by the VIVE Project.” Come back soon—there are still more women to come! “At the end of the training sessions, one of the participants told me, ”Come back soon—there are still more women to come!’ It was an experience I’ll carry in my heart, because I realized that The Trust for the Americas, through projects like VIVE, is making up for a little of what some people are missing,” said Laura Hernández.