How We Help

Our Approach

Financial education that works for indigenous communities looks different from mainstream programs.

Community-Centered Design

Before we bring a program to any community, we spend weeks in dialogue with local leaders, elders, and potential participants. What are the community's economic priorities? What traditional practices already exist? What barriers do people face? What learning methods work best?

This discovery phase shapes everything—from which topics we prioritize to the examples we use to the schedule we follow. A coffee-growing community in Chiapas needs different content and timing than a weaving cooperative in Oaxaca. We adapt to each context rather than forcing communities to adapt to us.

Program Areas

We offer six core program areas, each fully customizable to community needs.

Savings & Money Management

Understanding formal banking while building on traditional savings practices. Topics include opening accounts, building emergency funds, planning for major expenses, and protecting savings from inflation. We connect modern concepts to familiar practices like harvest-season budgeting and communal resource management.

Credit & Borrowing

Demystifying formal credit systems while honoring traditional lending circles. Learn to read loan agreements, compare interest rates, avoid predatory lending, and access fair credit. We help communities formalize tandas and other traditional systems to gain legal protection and broader access.

Cooperative Development

Building modern cooperatives on foundations of traditional collective work. We guide communities through legal formation, governance structures, financial management, and market access—all while preserving communal decision-making and equitable distribution principles.

Small Business Support

Practical business planning for artisans, farmers, and service providers. Topics include pricing products fairly, managing inventory, understanding costs, basic bookkeeping, and formalizing businesses. We adapt frameworks to seasonal realities and family-based enterprises.

Financial Protection

Understanding consumer rights, contracts, insurance, and avoiding scams. We provide practical tools for identifying predatory lenders, reading fine print, and seeking help when needed. Special focus on protecting vulnerable community members, especially elders and women.

Digital Financial Tools

Navigating mobile banking, digital payments, and online marketplaces safely. Practical training for communities with limited banking infrastructure, ensuring technology expands rather than excludes access. We address connectivity challenges and provide alternatives when digital isn't accessible.

Educational materials in indigenous languages

Language & Cultural Adaptation

Translation is just the starting point. True linguistic accessibility requires creating content that makes sense in the target language and culture, not just swapping Spanish words for indigenous ones.

We work with native speaker translators who understand both financial concepts and their communities' economic practices. They don't just translate—they adapt examples, create culturally relevant scenarios, and find ways to explain concepts that may not have direct equivalents.

For instance, "interest rate" becomes meaningful when explained through the lens of harvest-season lending and repayment cycles. "Diversification" makes sense when connected to traditional practices of planting multiple crops for food security.

Delivery Methods

We meet communities where they are, with formats that work for their context.

In-Person Workshops

Interactive group sessions in community spaces, typically 2-3 hours weekly over 4-8 weeks. We schedule around agricultural cycles and community obligations. Participants receive printed materials to take home.

Train-the-Trainer Programs

Intensive training for community members who want to become facilitators. These leaders then deliver programs in their own communities, ensuring sustainability and cultural authenticity.

One-on-One Advising

Individual support for specific needs like starting a business, applying for credit, or resolving financial problems. Available in person or by phone, always in the participant's preferred language.

Printed Resources

Illustrated guides, workbooks, and reference materials designed for communities with limited literacy or internet access. Visual learning tools that don't rely heavily on text.

Audio Resources

Recorded lessons and stories in indigenous languages, distributed via radio, USB drives, or community sound systems. Particularly valuable for oral-tradition cultures and communities with limited literacy.

Ongoing Support

Communities aren't on their own after initial training. We provide follow-up visits, phone support, and refresher sessions. Facilitators can always reach us with questions or for additional resources.

Success Stories

Real impact from communities we've worked with.

San Juan Chamula Women's Cooperative

Twenty-three women weavers in San Juan Chamula attended our cooperative development program delivered entirely in Tzotzil. Within six months, they formalized their traditional weaving collective, opened a shared bank account, and secured their first contract with a fair-trade retailer.

The cooperative now provides stable income for 23 families, with members reporting 40% income increases compared to selling individually. Perhaps more importantly, the women describe feeling respected as business owners and having greater say in household financial decisions.

Coffee Farmers Credit Circle

A group of 15 coffee-farming families in the Sierra Norte participated in our credit and borrowing program in Zapoteco. They learned to formalize their traditional tanda system, gaining legal recognition and the ability to access larger loans from ethical lenders.

The formalized credit circle has helped members invest in organic certification, purchase processing equipment collectively, and weather price fluctuations through emergency loans. Members report feeling more secure and less vulnerable to predatory lenders who previously charged exploitative rates.