DREAMING IS OUR REVOLUTION

A Journey that began with listening

Our mission is creating systems and programs that elevate communities, regenerate the Earth, and transform perspectives.

Our journey started with a simple question: “What do you need?”

The women in rural Guatemala responded: “If you can sell what we produce, the rest we can do.”

But we quickly realized that consistent income wasn’t enough. Families needed opportunity. A pathway to turn dreams into realities. That’s when Wakami was born—and it’s what we continue building today.

OUR WHY

In Guatemala, nearly 60% of the population lives below the poverty line. One in two children face chronic malnutrition. Girls struggle to stay in school. And women, especially Indigenous women, are often left without access to economic opportunities. Yet we believe change is possible when it begins with a dream and is built with the right tools. We’ve experienced it firsthand. That’s why our work focuses on creating cycles of prosperity.

Every artisan we work with begins by drawing her dream—a visual reminder of where she wants to go. Because when we can see the future we want, we can take steps to make it real.

WHO WE ARE

Our work is applied across two core value chains:

At Wakami Foundation, we believe real change begins when women can turn their dreams into a way of life. We work in rural Guatemala, partnering with women to create pathways to economic opportunity, quality education, and healthier homes.

Through our proven model—centered on inclusive business incubation, global market access, and smart social investment—we’ve supported thousands of families in building cycles of prosperity. We focus on creating opportunities for women to earn and improve their quality of life for themselves and their families. But it’s not just about income—it’s about growing futures where children study, mothers lead, and communities thrive.

OUR MODEL:
TURNING DREAMS INTO REALITY

We use interconnected approaches to support long-term change

Inclusive Business

In rural areas, women often lack the training, resources and accessibility needed to start, sustain or grown their businesses. This is why we created the Inclusive Business Methodology. It serves as a business incubator, guiding women through every step of building a sustainable business. Over two years, participants go through nine training cycles, covering everything from business organization to production, financial management, and personal development. In 2024, more than 245 women completed these workshops, enhancing their ability to generate income and take on leadership roles within their households.

Market Access

Market Access

Once women have the skills to build their businesses, they need access to the market. This is where the Market Access methodology comes in. Managed by Wakami, the for-profit organization, this methodology helps rural businesses reach national and international markets by becoming their first customer. This partnership ensures that these businesses can sell their products in a fair and sustainable way, expanding their reach and increasing their income.

Smart Investments

Smart Investments

Generating income is just the first step. To create lasting change, we need to help women make strategic investments that improve their quality of life. The Smart Investments methodology, managed by Communities of the Earth, teaches women how to manage their resources to make sustainable improvements in their homes and communities. Over the years, we have learned that income alone is not enough — it needs to be managed wisely to create a real, long-term transformation, which is why we focus our work on three key areas: education, health and empowerment and prosperous homes.

OUR PROGRAMS:
CREATING A LASTING CHANGE

At Wakami Foundation, our methodology comes to life through programs that address the interconnected challenges facing rural communities. From leadership and education to emotional wellbeing and healthy homes, each initiative strengthens the capacities of women, youth, and families creating opportunities that lead to lasting, generational change.

Girls Acceleration Program

In rural Guatemala, many girls grow up with limited opportunities, social expectations that restrict their aspirations, and few spaces where their potential is intentionally nurtured.

GAP provides a safe, structured environment where girls build life skills, strengthen academic competencies—including reading and coding—and develop the confidence to pursue their own future.

Our Impact
300+ girls have strengthened their skills, expanded their opportunities, and built a path toward brighter futures.

Key Outcomes
Building life skills and strong values
Improving reading and academic performance
Growing confidence and resilience
Developing future community leaders

Your Impact
Your donation gives a girl the skills, confidence, and opportunities to shape her own future.

Boys Acceleration Program

Strong communities are built by investing in both girls and boys. Yet many boys in rural Guatemala lack opportunities to develop leadership, emotional intelligence, and positive values that strengthen families and communities.

BAP supports the holistic development of boys through experiences that build life skills, foster positive values, and encourage respectful, responsible leadership.

Our Impact
30+ boys have participated in a transformative learning process that strengthens their personal and social development.

Key Outcomes
Building life skills and positive values
Developing leadership rooted in respect and empathy
Strengthening responsibility toward family and community
Creating healthier, more equitable communities alongside GAP

Your Impact
Your gift helps boys grow into respectful, empathetic leaders who strengthen their families and communities.

Scholarships

Scholarship Program

For many families in rural Guatemala, education is interrupted not by a lack of talent, but by the cost of staying in school. Uniforms, transportation, supplies, and tuition become barriers that force many children to leave the classroom long before they reach their potential.

The School Scholarships Program provides financial support that allows children and young people to remain in school—from primary education through university. By removing financial barriers, we help students continue learning and build brighter futures.

Our Impact
800+ students have received scholarships to continue their education and expand their academic, personal, and professional opportunities.

Key Outcomes
Keeping children and young people in school
Supporting students from primary school through university
Expanding long-term economic opportunities
Helping break the cycle of poverty across generations

Your Impact
Your support keeps a child in school and opens the door to opportunities that can change a family’s future.

Healthy Homes

A home should provide safety and dignity. Yet many rural families in Guatemala live with unsafe cooking conditions, inadequate infrastructure, and limited sanitation that put their health and wellbeing at risk every day.

Working alongside families, the Healthy Homes Program implements practical improvements that create safer, healthier, and more sustainable living spaces, generating lasting benefits for the entire household.

Our Impact
17 families have benefited from safer, healthier, and more dignified homes.

Key Outcomes
Improving living conditions with practical, lasting solutions
Reducing health risks caused by inadequate housing
Creating safer environments for children and families
Strengthening community wellbeing one home at a time

Your Impact
Your donation helps create safer, healthier homes where families can thrive.

Mentorship Program

Many women in our network carry invisible burdens that no income can erase: trauma, grief, and years of being told their voices don’t matter. These experiences shape how they see themselves—and how far they believe they can go.

Through professionally guided, confidential mentoring, Wakami’s artisan women strengthen their emotional wellbeing, rebuild self-confidence, and develop the leadership skills to thrive as individuals, mothers, and community leaders.

Our Impact
45 women reached across multiple communities in Guatemala.

Key Outcomes
Rebuilding self-confidence and self-worth
Healing from trauma and limiting beliefs
Strengthening relationships at home and in the community
Growing as confident leaders

Your Impact
Your support helps a woman rediscover her confidence, strengthen her leadership, and transform the future of her family.

OUR IMPACT SO FAR

Over the past two decades, Wakami has grown into a thriving system of opportunity. And while the dreams are individual, the results are collective.

This is how
dreams show
up—in real
numbers, in real
lives.

Latest Annual Report

175+ children enrolled in our scholarship program - 9 are now in university Wakami children average 9 years of school vs the national average of 4.8

Teen pregnacies dropped from 16% to 8%

$45 million in direct income generated to the artisans

Severe stunting reduced by 10% in Wakami families

20,000+ lives touched through our projects in Guatemala

2,000+ women have fulfilled their dreams through Wakami value chains

200+ girls and 21 boys in our Acceleration Program, now learning English and robotics

Only 5% of children in our programs face chronic malnutrition, vs. over 50% nationally

Every $27,600 invested in education generates $1.15M in social value

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HOW WE’RE STRUCTURED

At the heart of our work is Fundación Wakami, our nonprofit in Guatemala that leads all local operations, working together with rural communities to incubate and strengthen women-led businesses.

This nonprofit is supported by the Wakami Foundation, based in the U.S., which helps expand global partnerships, fund key programs, and connect communities with international allies.

We also collaborate with Wakami, a B-Corp ethical lifestyle brand, which supports the value chain by designing products, purchasing raw materials, and connecting women’s businesses to national and global markets—ensuring their voices and craftsmanship reach the world.

Together, we form a shared ecosystem that brings local leadership and global support into harmony.

A Dream Shared Is a Dream Multiplied

We’ve seen it happen. One dream becomes a thriving business. One girl becomes a university student. One home becomes a healthy environment. And when we all work together —communities, partners, supporters, travelers, and teams—these stories multiply.

And they’re just beginning.

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