Maria Pacheco, Guatemalan leader and Fulbright scholar to speak in the Library Learning Commons on November 2nd.

September 20, 2011 (Westport, Conn) — Maria Pacheco links Guatemalan artisans in indigenous rural communities to international markets, transforming cycles of poverty into cycles of prosperity and empowering women to be agents of change in their families, homes and communities.

Growing up in war-torn Guatemala City convinced Maria that she could ‘heal the earth’ by moving to the mountains and becoming an organic farmer. However, it wasn’t long before she found herself on a mission to bring prosperity to communities that others had long forgotten – desperately poor rural communities in which over 200,000 people were killed and tens of thousands were ‘disappeared’ during a 36-year civil war.

Maria saw the untapped potential and talent of Guatemala’s indigenous women, nearly half of whom are illiterate. She formed Kiej de los Bosques, an organization that works with expert artisans to develop their designs and expand their businesses, linking rural communities to markets around the world.
Currently a consultant for the [ http://www.unfoundation.org/ ]United Nations Foundation, Maria is developing a program that will generate sources of income for communities living in or around natural World Heritage Sites, while at the same time protecting the surrounding ecosystem.

She is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters degree in agriculture from Cornell University. Maria served as co-founder and first female president of the Guatemalan Rural Entrepreneurship Association (AGER), and is part of the Aspen Institute Global~Leadership Network, belonging to the Central American Initiative (CALI).~With other Aspen fellows, Maria launched the Vital Voices Central American Network,~to ensure that women’s voices in the region be heard.

Vital Voices Connecticut Council is honored to introduce Maria and her work in Guatemala on Wednesday evening, November 2, 7-9:00 pm at Christ and Holy Trinity Church, 75 Church Lane, Westport.

About Vital Voices: Vital Voices Global Partnership ([ http://www.vitalvoices.org/ ]www.vitalvoices.org) is an international non-profit organization that identifies, trains, mentors and empowers emerging women leaders and social entrepreneurs around the globe, enabling them to transform lives and accelerate peace and prosperity in their communities. The Connecticut Council of Vital Voices was established in 2005 to support the work of Vital Voices and raise awareness about their many programs and the remarkable women leaders of their global network.