Women’s Small Business Training Program

Y’abal’s Small Business training program supports Guatemalan indigenous women’s cooperatives through monthly entrepreneurship trainings.

Each month, as part of our on-going entrepreneurship program, Y’abal offers job skills trainings for our group of 35 women weavers in the communities of Pacutama and Chuicutama, in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan. The idea is to teach them new skills and give them new ideas for generating income out of small home businesses. The communities that we partner with are located in remote rural villages, most families don’t own land, and most of the women have little-to-no education or job skills.

The need for jobs and income is the reason why Y’abal began 6 years ago. While these communities have a variety of needs, the lack of jobs is the root cause of, and the solution to, many of their struggles with malnutrition, illness, lack of education, as well as the lack of women’s agency and empowerment. We believe in the strength and intelligence of the women we work with and seek to connect them to the resources they need to succeed.

Rural Guatemalan women learning to make keychains during one of Y’abal’s workshops

While Y’abal is able to provide consistent work for the 35 women in our cooperative, there are more women from the same communities that are also in need of alternative sources of income. Because of this, we started our small business training program.

Our goal is for at least 20 women to start new home businesses within the next couple of years, providing new services and products to their communities and neighbors!