About EarthEmpower
EarthEmpower creates meaningful social and economic opportunities for rural women and farmers, empowering them to be agents of positive change in their communities. In Guatemala, rural, indigenous women face the highest rates of poverty, discrimination, and violence and are the least likely group to have access to formal employment opportunities. Only 33% of rural women have access to formal employment and only 10% of women achieve economic autonomy, the ability to control their financial resources. By producing nutritious foods and teas using native crops grown by primarily women farmers and manufactured by women-led teams, EarthEmpower creates a rare opportunity for fair work in the impoverished communities where we operate. In addition to providing wages that are 60% higher than an average rural salaried employee Guatemala, we invest in the social development of our all-women team, providing leadership coaching and empowerment training to provide rural women with the necessary tools to transform their lives and their communities.
Our mission is to create economic opportunities and empowerment for indigenous and rural women by closing gender employment gaps, creating socially just and environmentally resilient supply chains, and providing tools to empower them to be agents of positive change in their communities.
EarthEmpower’s all women team is the embodiment of the empowerment and positive impact we exist to create. Our commitment to equity, fair work, and environmental sustainability defines our work. All team members share a common vision – to keep impact at the center of our model – and we uphold the following core values:
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We dismantle discrimination with our actions, work, and words. Many of our team members are part of indigenous groups that have faced decades of discrimination Guatemala. These team members lead us to deeper understanding of discriminatory practices and systems and together we work to create a discrimination-free workplace and expand this space into all partnerships we engage in.
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We prioritize ancestral knowledge and environmental sustainability by working with and learning from local farmers. Our work is made possible by farmers and communities who have cultivated native crops for centuries. We respect traditional practices and engage in mutual learning exchanges so that farmers are able to maintain traditional practices while gaining access to new knowledge and technology to enable a more inclusive sustainable future.
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We practice intersectional feminism* by recognizing that each individual’s experience of inequality is shaped by the intersection of gender, ethnicity, race, class, and disability status. We make business decisions based on the highest possible form of social inclusion
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We honor diversity (both human and plant!) by embracing the natural variety of traditional crops in Guatemala and providing jobs for rural women first. We work to create a world where diversity is recognized as a pathway to resilient, creative, and powerful change.
EarthEmpower was born in 2017 when we combined our passion and force to create social impact with our ambition to ensure economic sustainability. Rachael initiated the business in 2017 and met Magda later in the year when they joined their partnership in Mexico, and in 2019 they joined forces to make an international partnership!
Rachael and Magda created their partnership to incorporate their expertise in consulting with the gaps they always found in their projects - missing markets, insufficient affordable technology, and a lack of focus and opportunities for women and rural communities. They put these at the center of their company's mission, and EarthEmpower was born.
EarthEmpower launched as a legal entity in 2017 in the USA, and 2018 in Mexico and Guatemala.