“We believe every person—despite the social, economic or geographic situation they were born into—deserves the freedom to discover, to dream andto thrive.” Maya Traditions Foundation is proud to announce an exciting new partnership with social entrepreneur Sarah Contrucci Smith and her new business Ara Collective. Ara Collective is a socially responsible company that works alongside artisans to develop unique, handcrafted products that blend traditional craftsmanship with modern style. In preparation for the launch of her business, Sarah visited Guatemala and traveled to our communities to meet our artisans and observe their work. Growing up in Indonesia, Sarah was provided with the opportunity to learn
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We are excited to announce a new partnership with The Thread Caravan, a business that will offer art workshops around the world. By participating, individuals learn about traditional craft production, while also experiencing scenery and adventures unique to each destination. The first destination is Guatemala, where participants will learn the art of backstrap weaving with our artisans at Maya Traditions Foundation. Here, founder Caitlin Ahern shares a bit about The Thread Caravan: Hi, I’m Caitlin, an artist with a passion for travel and helping others. I’m merging these interests by creating The Thread Caravan. Our comprehensive travel packages take participants to different communities around the
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We’ve asked Maya Traditions’ Fair Trade customers & supporters to send us stories and pictures on how they’re using our products and textiles. Here, designer Kendyll shares a bit about her latest visit to Guatemala and what she’s doing with our Fair Trade backstrap woven textiles. Hello! My name is Kendyll Gage-Ripa and I’m a 25 year old self-employed clothing designer based out of Chappaquiddick in Massachusetts. My business is just starting out, and currently I design and create all my garments myself. I use a combination of salvaged and new fabrics with an emphasis on natural materials. The garments are based
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Posted by Maya Traditions on February 25, 2015
In January 2015, Maya Traditions’ team welcomed reporter Laurie Stern to our office in Panajachel, Sololá, Guatemala. After brief correspondence via email and phone, Laurie was interested in capturing our story at Maya Traditions and sharing it with the world. Through sitting in on client meetings to traveling to the rural community of Quiejel, Chichicastenago during an artisan and student meeting, Laurie was able to fully grasp the importance of our relationships with our artisans and our customers. As consumer demand for Fair Trade and ethical products increase, we are seeing an increase in inquiry from businesses and designers from around the
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On Wednesday, January 21st, 2015, Maya Traditions organized our annual artisan meeting with representatives from each cooperative. Artisan Development Coordinator Isabel Chalcú shares her thoughts on the meeting: Each one of our cooperatives is an important part of Maya Traditions Foundation. For she, the artisan, represents the essence of our work. Each year, we work harder, facilitating market access and increasing our educational programming, with the mission to empower our artisans and improve the quality of their lives. To start off 2015, we held a meeting with two representatives from each cooperative. Our objective was to understand and analyze our
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