Social entrepreneur and impact storyteller Mallory Brown is back with her latest episode of Walk A Mile, a global marathon to fight poverty and empower working women around the world. For mile three of her 26-mile marathon, Mallory partnered with Konojel, a nonprofit organization in Guatemala. All donations will directly benefit this charity as they fight to end poverty and malnutrition, while empowering women to work and run their own businesses — something that it not always supported in Guatemala.
Watch the latest episode of Walk A Mile below and continue reading to learn how you can join the fight against poverty.
In San Marcos La Laguna, Guatemala, 60 percent of families live on less than $2 a day.
When more than half of a village lives below the poverty line, it is evident that something needs to be done. In addition to an extreme poverty rate, Guatemala also has one of the highest chronic malnutrition rates in the world and the highest malnutrition rate in Latin America. 
Opening its doors in 2011, Konojel has made it their mission to aid and strengthen at-risk individuals through nutrition, education, and empowerment. The nonprofit impacts the community through various initiatives, including a lunch program, educational workshops, and a women’s empowerment program.
As a for-profit restaurant and nonprofit community center, Konojel employs local women to run the restaurant while learning marketable skills, such as cooking, serving customers, and managing finances. The women are also encouraged to start their own micro-businesses. Their products, which include clothing, sweets, and handmade purses, are then sold at Konojel. The organization serves to support and empower women to work and become leaders and entrepreneurs.
Konojel is working to raise the standard of living for Guatemalans.
The standard of living in Guatemala is not very high, which has an extremely negative impact on its residents — especially children. In fact, in Guatemala’s indigenous communities, seven out of 10 children suffer from malnutrition. Konojel works to lower the rate of malnutrition. In addition to its daily lunch program, which provides a hearty and nutritious meal to the most at-risk individuals in the community, Konojel also offers nutrition workshops. Besides providing healthy food to malnourished members of the community, Konojel also educates them on healthy eating habits and gives them knowledge they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.
As a social entrepreneur, Mallory aims to help underdeveloped countries combat the cycle of poverty while empowering working women and their families.
Partnering with Konojel, Mallory has made it her goal to help the organization continue to empower women and combat the social issues they are faced with. In her new Walk A Mile episode, Mallory meets Laura, a program manager at Konojel. Although Konojel makes tremendous efforts to help empower women by teaching them essential skills for the workplace, Laura says not everyone shares that same perspective. In fact, Laura says women often face widespread discrimination and a lack of opportunities. Many women are even confined to the home as many people believe they should do certain things, like work, because they are women.
Laura’s mission is to fight for women and prove that they can work hard while giving back to their community, which is exactly what they are doing at Konojel. Similarly, Mallory’s Walk A Mile mission is to empower women, one mile at a time. Enlisting the help of her viewers, Mallory hopes to raise $1 million, as well as awareness, for impoverished working women around the world.
Click here to donate to Mallory’s Walk A Mile campaign, which will directly benefit Konojel’s mission to end the cycle of poverty.
Interested in booking Mallory to speak at your next event? Visit eaglestalentmanagement.com or call 1.800.345.5607 for more information.
