Build Cooperatives with Indigenous Women in Mexico

2023 was chock-full of collaboration, resilience, and meaningful progress for PSYDEH and our Sierra Madre Network of women-led cooperatives in rural Hidalgo, Mexico. As we begin 2024, we want to take a moment to highlight some of what we accomplished in 2023 as well as early wins and expectations for the new year.

Economic Solidarity School - Sierra Madre Network Progress in 2023: 

In the field, we implemented 16 workshops for rural, Indigenous women-led cooperatives in our Economic Solidarity School. From January through November, we covered 84% of our planned curriculum, which included cooperative management, the use of technology, and personal development. In total our team led 72 skills-based workshops covering the following themes (and many more!): working in groups, digital tools, strategic communication and social networks, legal establishment of cooperatives, financial planning and tools for cooperatives, market analysis, and participation and leadership roles. 

2023 also was crucial in promoting sustainable development opportunities for the network of women-led cooperatives PSYDEH supports. Work with Mexico City-based luxury brand Onora led to new orders as well as key learning for women partners, including learning to quote a sample of pieces to a buyer and how to establish fair prices according to the calculation of working hours and production costs. In addition, collaborations with Tienda Muxeres and Fábrica Social offered opportunities for women partners to analyze new market opportunities for textile creation and innovation, to be able to expand their virtual offerings, and to implement new techniques in their Spring 2024 collections.

Other progress in the field is demonstrated by two new initiatives for income generation: Sierra Solidaria, which aims to impact the communities of the Otomí Tepehua Nahua Region through projects led by the cooperatives to promote community welfare; and Ruta Red Sierra Madre, a pilot exercise that will serve as a baseline to develop an income-generating community tourism project within the cooperative network. 

7th Annual Regional Leadership Conference

In November 2023 we held our seventh annual regional leadership conference of rural and Indigenous women, which took place in the community of San Pedro Tlachichilco in the municipality of Acaxochitlán, where more than 60 women graduated from the second year of programming. For the first time, women partners participated in an overnight trip to the conference, allowing them to spend more time together sharing their experiences, celebrating yearly progress, and developing strategies to address current and future problems through their collaboratively written Regional Development Agenda.

Early 2024 Wins and Beyond

PSYDEH is off to a running start in 2024! In addition to beginning the 3rd year of our Sierra Madre Network and Tec for All programs, the first months of the new year have been full of one-of-a-kind events and exciting news for PSYDEH and our partners.

To kick off the year, 8 members of the PSYDEH team traveled to Cancun, Mexico, to represent our organization after being selected as the nonprofit partner for Brandi Carlile’s Girls Just Wanna Weekend Festival, where we sold $7,000 in artisan goods from women partners’ cooperatives. In addition, women cooperatives completed an order for hand-embroidered bags for the first-ever edition of Mirada Corta, a new short film festival that took place in Mexico City.

2024 program work marks the start of leadership school for the cooperative network, with a focus on increased business opportunities, innovation in digital skills and tools, and women-led initiatives at the community and regional levels. Curriculum work will focus on individualized personal and professional skill development as well as community impact projects, and February will see the implementation of our first-ever fully virtual workshop, all of which is supported by your investments in our work.

Thanks so much for your ongoing solidarity and stay tuned for more in the coming months!