In late March, Mallory Brown set off on her journey to walk a marathon with 26 working women around the world in an effort to fight poverty. She is taking the marathon one mile at a time as she connects with each woman individually and listens to her story. So far, she has walked three miles. Her ultimate goal is to raise $1 million for working women around the world using storytelling and direct calls to action.

Keep up with Mallory by following her journey through our blog, which will document her travels continent by continent.  

About “Walk a Mile”

Mallory plans on walking 26 miles with 26 different women in 26 locations around the world. Along the way, she will share each woman’s unique story about her fight for a better life. The end product will result in a 26-episode web series chronicling the lives of working women around the world, set to be released in November of this year.  Each episode represents one mile and will include a call to action, encouraging viewers to get involved and help make a change. Through this project, Mallory hopes to raise $1 million for working women around the world while showing viewers that the economic empowerment of women is an essential tool in fighting extreme poverty.

Mallory’s Progress So Far…

So far, Mallory has completed three out of 26 miles and has walked in Panama, Honduras and Guatemala. Along the way, she has met three outstanding women and learned about their everyday struggles, as well as the social circumstances surrounding the countries they live in.

Follow Mallory from Guatemala to Kenya and beyond as she walks a mile in every woman’s shoes and shares their remarkable stories of strength.

Bocas del Toro, Panamá

Mallory kicked off “Walk a Mile” by traveling to Panama, where she walked her first mile with Rafaela, or Rafa for short. Rafa is the first female president of her village, Valle Escondido. She is heavily involved with a local nonprofit called Floating Doctors, which works to provide healthcare to underserved communities.

Rafa is also a member of Panama’s Ngabe tribe. Women in this tribe are known to wear brightly colored dresses with some embroidery on it. Because Rafa lives in a chain of remote islands on the Atlantic Coast, she often travels by canoe. As a result, Mallory’s first mile walked ended up being a mile rowed on Rafa’s handmade canoe!

Intibucá, Honduras

Next, Mallory headed to Honduras, where she walked a mile with Gisela. Gisela works with Shoulder to Shoulder, a local nonprofit that aims to provide healthcare, nutrition, medicine and other supplies throughout rural Honduras.

Everyday, Gisela walks miles and miles in the scorching heat so she can reach different villages. At each village, Gisela meets with mothers and their children and provides them with a health exam. She weighs and measures each child and notes whether they are malnourished or losing weight. She then provides each mother with a nutritional supplement powder for their child, which will allow them to gain weight and receive all the nutrients they need to grow.

While in Honduras, Gisela, Mallory and her videographer, Ryan walked two hours to reach one village. Along the way, Mallory said, “I got a little wave of heat stroke and had to sit down and hydrate. Gisela does this 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year. We are total wimps.”

Gisela is a hard working woman who is making a great impact in her country. She reaches about 2,800 children throughout 60 villages on a rotating schedule. Gisela’s story is one of courage and strength — not to mention, one that we can all learn from.

San Marcos La Laguna, Guatemala

Mallory walked her third mile in Guatemala where she met Laura, another inspiring and hard-working woman. Laura works at Konojel, a nonprofit organization and social enterprise run by the the women of San Marcos La Laguna. Konojel provides members of the community with nutrition, education and employment as they strive to decrease malnutrition and poverty rates in Guatemala.

Laura is one of the many women in her village who works at Konojel and is actively fighting to end hunger. In Guatemala, Mallory was able to witness the positive impact that a group of working women can have on their village. In addition, Laura taught Mallory all about her responsibilities as a working woman as well as the importance of a program such as Konojel in the community.

Track Mallory’s Progress!

3 miles down, 23 to go! Where is Mallory off to next? Stay tuned on our blog to follow Mallory every step of the way on her “Walk a Mile” marathon.

Mallory Brown is a global humanitarian and social entrepreneur with many causes near and dear to her. Not only does she work toward making positive change in the world through fundraising and other charitable projects, but she is also an inspiring keynote speaker focused on various causes, including women’s empowerment, goal setting and overcoming adversity. If you are interested in booking Mallory for your next event, give us a call at 1.800.345.5607.