Mayan Women's Leadership Committees managing Digital Community Centers

Guatemala's rural communities have a great need for basic services such as energy, education, health and roads. The communities of the department of Huehuetenango, Alta Verapaz and Quiché still suffer the consequences of the internal civil war and the failed implementation of megaprojects (i.e. the construction of a hydroelectric plant, and mining industries), leaving deep social and economic scars on the population. 

This has generated a social revolution in the Mayan peoples of these territories, which are considered "conflictive" by the local authorities, which leads to greater institutional abandonment. On the other hand, the communities have chosen to isolate themselves and do not welcome business or government intervention in the region. This has aggravated the problems in the area and has caused an increase in irregular migration, internal displacement and acute poverty rates. This power struggle has left these communities in the middle of the conflict, while villagers bear the brunt and continue to lack access to basic services. 

Amidst this complex landscape, the gender disparities highlighted in the 2018 USAID/Guatemala Gender Analysis report further underscore the challenges faced by Mayan women in these territories. The limited access to basic services exacerbates their plight, while the disparity in literacy rates and labor market participation further deepens the divide. As of 2014, 58% of indigenous women were literate, compared to 78% for indigenous men and 83.7% and 89.9% for non-indigenous women and men, respectively.  In addition, rural women in Guatemala have limited access to the labor market. In 2017, only 28% of working-age indigenous women were active in the formal sector, compared to 90% of working-age indigenous men. 

The economic opportunities for indigenous women and girls in Guatemala are significantly hindered by the prevailing digital inequity across the country. In 2020, New Sun Road (NSR) conducted focus groups and interviews with 136 women from rural communities without electrification in Alta Verapaz to understand their digital needs, and only 37% of them had access to the Internet. Most used the internet for message apps and social media. Nevertheless, 94% wanted to learn how to use the internet for educational and productive purposes. Furthermore, 99% of the respondents would like to use the internet to access health services and health-related information. Without equal access to technology and the Internet, girls and women in Guatemala cannot fully participate in society with better job opportunities, digital tools, and online content information, education, services, civic rights. At the country level, the 2018 Guatemalan Census shows that only 21% of the population regularly uses a computer, and just 29% have access to the Internet.

New Sun Road is organizing Mayan women in rural communities in Guatemala to manage solar-powered and internet-enabled Digital Community Centers as their entrepreneurial activity. 

This entrepreneurial effort aims to break gender norms, foster women's economic empowerment, and strengthen women’s civic skills by learning how to thoughtfully speak, listen, collaborate, community organize and community advocate, gaining power in community spaces where women’s voices and opinions have been traditionally overlooked and marginalized.

Women are selected through elections held in Community Assemblies and organized in Women’s Leadership Committees (WLC). The organization is established using the snowflake model and leadership strategies inspired by Marshall Ganz. The New Sun Road indigenous local team supports throughout the project with training and capacity building in their native language (digital skills, management, financial, problem-solving, leadership, among others). The methodology for the creation of the WLCs involves constructing shared purpose, public narrative, organizing statement, one-on-one meetings, among others to achieve a shared purpose. In the snowflake model, leadership is decentralized. The general idea that drives group dynamics in WLCs is that responsibility is shared sustainably; and, structure aims to create mutual accountability. The snowflake is made up of interconnected teams working together to further common goals, including volunteers, that gain leadership and collective mobilization skills.

New Sun Road with the energy expertise  has provided access to solar power, connectivity and digital skills training to 30 underserved communities in Guatemala’s highlands installing solar-powered and internet enabled Digital Community Centers (DCCs). NSR provides solar panels and internet-enabled computers that work in tandem, serving as women-led micro-enterprises within these communities. These hubs of opportunities are managed by 400 women organized in the Women's Leadership Committees. More than 4,000 indigenous women have been digitally trained in their mother tongue Q'eqchi' and Chuj and provide more than 14,000 services such as Internet access services, photocopies, education, productive content, online transactions, and printed material, among others. The DCCs have been funded by Microsoft, USAID/Microsoft Airband Initiative, USAID-MujerProspera, Microsoft in response to Vice President Harris’s May 2021 call to action to deepen investment in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. And in 2023, it also has the support from USTDA and the National Secretary of Science and Technology (Senacyt), Frida-Lanic, Summit Foundation, Focus Central America Foundation and the Free STEM Fund.

Indigenous women join the workforce by co-creating business models with a design thinking methodology. Women provide educational opportunities for the youth, including STEM programs funded by the Free STEM Fund. These are the first women-led digital centers that provide a new source of income to marginalized women through access to solar energy and internet connection, empowering women’s voice in civic activities in the communities and changing the community councils’ dynamics.

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Our solution serves remote, rural, and indigenous communities out of the main electricity grid in Alta Verapaz and Huehuetenango, Guatemala. New Sun Road provides solar power, internet, and computer devices to community centers. We negotiate with the Community Councils the creation of a) Digital Community Centers (DCCs) to provide services to the community and b) a Women's Leadership Committee to manage the DCCs.

Our solution is impacting women’s life by improving their community participation and increasing their civic skills by accessing online information, engaging in civic actions, gaining power in the Community Councils' decision-making, and supporting their communities with services they need to travel far away to access including government documentations or simple student homework.

Our solution is also helping to close the digital gender gap and creating economic opportunities for the most vulnerable population in Guatemala – rural indigenous women.  NSR has trained and organized 400 indigenous women in digital, leadership, and financial skills to run the DCCs as their own businesses in their local communities. 4,000 indigenous women in rural areas trained in digital literacy.

Our focus is co-creating with the community following a design thinking methodology where we a) empathize through focus groups, b)define by surveys, c)ideate by workshops, d)prototype by community assemblies and value propositions, and finally e) test the digital community centers.

The Women’s Leadership Committees (WLC) have the ultimate authority in making decisions, with our team providing support and guidance throughout the process. The WLC’s autonomy and final say are highly valued and respected. 

New Sun Road Guatemala is led by Guatemalan scientists and indigenous women from the regions where we enabled shared purpose. This also allows us to be role models for the communities.

• Yadira Morales is a coder and Ixil woman. Her family was a victim of the civil war. She works as our technology coordinator.

• Edna Figueroa, an expert in sociolinguistics, with 29k followers on social media. She has represented the Q’ eqchi’ Mayan culture in different national positions and will represent us in Panama in the indigenous women of America contest.

• Edna Cao, a Q’ eqchi’ woman, psychologist, and mother of two, is our trainers and community relationships coordinator.

• Alejandro Alvarado, our country director, is a Guatemalan urbanist trained in Germany with experience in community engagement, bottom-up, and co-creation community programs.

• Nereyda Ortiz, a Guatemalan scientist, expert in migration with a gender focus.

• Susana Arrechea, a Guatemalan scientist, Awards-winning for her research, New Sun Road Guatemala co-founder and co-founder of the Organization for Women in Science in the Developing World Chapter Guatemala.

New Sun Road has alliances with Guatemalan scientific communities, the National Secretary of Science and Technology and the SVET

We tested the initiative in 30 communities in Guatemala.

With over 400 organized women and more than 4k trained.

Some communities are breaking even, while others need to keep building on their sustainability.

We are interested in access leadership coaching from the MIT Solve community to the growth stage in Guatemala and other regions.

Gain marketing and visibility to promote established Women’s Leadership Committees

Learn from other solvers best practices and efficient use of resources.

New Sun Road is a for-profit Public Benefit Corporation with a mission to 1) develop low-carbon technologies that accelerate energy transitions, and 2) scale access for remote and underserved communities around the world. 

Our innovation is remote monitoring and control of solar-powered microgrids for energy and Internet access. Microgrid developers in rural locations are often faced with limited resources, harsh environments and few appropriate technology solutions. Challenges include inefficient control systems, insufficient technology solutions, limited resources, and high O&M costs.

Our cloud based platform gives operators real-time insights across all their microgrids. 

We have learned technology is not enough in remote rural communities. Our innovation in Guatemala is led by New Sun Road Guatemala, S.A., a Guatemalan company that is enabling women to find a shared purpose through Digital Community Centers. Women need to participate actively in the decision making and creating the WLC is an innovative socially effective way to involve Community Councils and Cocodes and support them to work together. 

The women in the WLC are chosen through democratic elections in a community assembly. NSR considers some aspects of those who occupy these positions. These factors are communicated in the community meetings, so they can nominate candidates that meet these requirements. 

In the target rural communities, a lack of access to energy and connectivity exacerbates gender inequalities. This limitation conditions women and girls to unpaid work and restricts their access to educational and economic opportunities.

This project will establish Digital Community Centers (DCCs) equipped with solar energy and internet-enabled computers. These centers aim to bridge the information gap by providing access to educational, economic, and social resources that were previously unavailable in these communities.

The activities are focused on:

• Installing DCCs with necessary technological equipment and solar energy systems.
• Organizing and forming Women Leaders Committees (WLCs) to foster female leadership and ensure project sustainability.
• Training programs for WLCs on digital literacy, leadership, shared responsibilities, teamwork, finance, and community mobilization.
• Training sessions on positive masculinities and gender dialogue for male community leaders to facilitate the acceptance of changing gender roles.
• Economic empowerment sessions to educate women on labor rights and business management, equipping them to engage in and benefit from economic activities beyond traditional unpaid roles.

The expected outcomes are:

• Women will utilize DCC resources to continue their education and acquire new skills.
• Training and access to the internet will enable women to discover job opportunities, start or improve their businesses, and understand their labor rights.
• Services offered at DCCs, such as photocopying, printing, and internet access, will serve as new income streams for the women managing these centers.

The anticipated challenges are:

• Potential resistance from traditional male authorities due to the empowerment of women and the shift in gender dynamics.
• Adapting new business practices and leveraging technology for economic benefits may challenge existing norms.

Strategies to overcome challenges include:

• Incorporating men in the community through specific training sessions that promote gender equity and support the project's goals.
• Facilitating early-stage dialogues between female and male community leaders to promote acceptance of technology and gender role transformations within the community structure.

Expected outcomes are:

• Increased access to energy and internet connectivity in a community center, leading to enhanced educational and economic opportunities for women.
• Empowered women who can lead community projects, manage DCC operations, and pursue entrepreneurial activities.
• Improved gender relations and reduced gender-based barriers in the community.

Long-term impacts are:

• Sustainable development of the community supported by educated, economically independent women.
• A model for gender-balanced community development that can be replicated in other regions.

Next 5 years install 3,000 DCCs, impact 1.5 M Guatemalans, and organize 30,000 women in WLC and grow to new regions. The strategy will be understanding the business models, financing opportunities, and government, private, and NGOs to support scaling.

New Sun Road’s Stellar platform is specifically designed for remote off-grid solar microgrids. By connecting to a wide range of devices, Stellar is technology agnostic, resilient in harsh conditions and cost-effective for rural applications. Through Stellar Microgrid OS™, all systems can be seen remotely on a single dashboard where the data is easy to read and interpret by a broad range of users. Our program includes technical training on using Stellar to monitor and operate the locally installed solar system.

Originally, our market fit was focused on developing microgrids in Africa, then we developed a monitor and control solution that is being used by microgrids owners in Africa. Our software is now being used to broad applications around the globe. Including solar projects for telecommunications towers in Latin America, Digital Community Centers in Guatemala and Mexico. More recently, we are working to monitor and control PG&E (the biggest utility company in California) microgrids in the United States, to mitigate utility-related wildfire concerns, increase grid resilience and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. New Sun Road has grown into a company with a platform that monitors and controls over 900 microgrids in 20 countries.

Guatemala 10 Full Time 4 Part-Time; USA 20 Full Time 2 Part Time

4 years with the WLC. 6 years with the Digital Community Centers

Our policies support inclusion, equity, and diversity. 

New Sun Road has a diverse team of Asian, White, Latinos, indigenous Mayan Ixil, Mayan Q' eqchi', Chuj and mestizos.  

The business model, and supporting financing and revenue strategy, follow a two-phase process. Initial capital investments will be subsidised by grant financing until the model is fully tested and community earnings are generated to fully cover center operational costs and leasing payments. 

In the long run, New Sun Road, the WLCs and its partners will collect revenue for the Digital Community Centers in three primary categories:  

1. 1. Onsite Community Services.  Useful services provided to the community include Internet café, wifi hotspot provision, member services such as advanced coding, and copying/printing;

   2. Onsite Institutional Services.  Services performed onsite for government, private or NGO stakeholders, such as telecom mast power, rental to local groups, and adult continuing education, vaccine chilling, etc.;  

   3. Remote Corporate and Individual.  Services performed “offsite”—corporate and NGO advertising and sponsorship, individual donations and grants, and other services to geographically dispersed stakeholders such as aggregate data access.  

Thow-phase approach: Foundation Building and Deployment to Scale

Phase I - focuses on establishing the foundations of a scalable, sustainable network of solar-powered digital community centers throughout Guatemala. Specifically, the team will prioritize 1) project design and planning, 2) community development and training, and 3) establishing operations, as well as the capital equipment and site works.

Phase II focuses on deploying the initial set of digital community centers throughout Guatemala, taking them to scale, monitoring impacts, revising the approach as needed, based on feedback from communities and partners. In this stage, the team will deploy curriculum, manage ongoing operations, and measure training results within local communities. 

1. Funding sources:  

1. 1. Grant:  Phase I funding will consist mainly of grant funding to allow the testing and development of replicable business models. In this phase, partners must prioritize securing funding, identifying and hiring a strong team, and procuring and installing necessary equipment for the initial 100 community centers.    

   2. Debt:  New Sun Road is currently in discussions with several financing partners interested in financing of Stellar IS across the world. 

   3. Equity:  New Sun Road, via its lead investor, intends to raise corporate and project equity to support the project.  

2. Ownership structure: New Sun Road proposes an ownership model of Build-operate-transfer (BOT) with 10-year renewable concession and will offer 3% of revenues as royalties to local communities as microfinance or site expansion loans. Additionally, in the BOT ownership model the project assets are transferred to the Guatemalan government after a 10-year period.