MAIA: Transforming Lives and Opportunities for Indigenous Girls
For the second spotlight on our 2024 F5 STEM Education Grant partners, I was honoured to spend some time with the formidable Vilma Saloj, Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships at MAIA, to learn about her game-changing educational work and how an F5 STEM Education Grant is bolstering MAIA’s ability to provide STEM opportunities to women and girls of color.
MAIA is truly inspirational organization led by Indigenous women for Indigenous girls in Guatemala. Its fundamental goal is to maximize and amplify the transformative power of women to create a society of equity and opportunity.
Q: Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
Saloj: I’m a Maya Kaqchikel woman and one of six children from a rural village in Sololá, Guatemala. I speak three languages: Spanish, English and Kaqchikel, my mother tongue.
In high school, my dream was to study medicine, but my family did not have the funds to support this ambition. However, it was during this time that I discovered the power of formal education, and the impact teachers could make. That’s why, when it was time to go to university, I chose to get a bachelor's degree in secondary-level education.
Q: How has your background shaped your focus in life?
Saloj: I am the third generation of my family to access education. My grandmother never had the opportunity to attend school, and my mother only completed eighth grade. My journey reflects the reality of many young women in my community.
I still remember the graduation essay I wrote when I became the first in my family to complete high school. It contains what remains the most important message for me: “Help the next generation to change their story and break the cycle of poverty and discrimination.”
As Indigenous women in Guatemala, we face what I call quadruple discrimination from the moment we are born: for living in a rural area, for living in poverty, for being women, and for being Indigenous.
A nonprofit organization in Guatemala, MAIA is using an F5 STEM Education Grant to redesign its five-year science curriculum to make it more engaging, innovative, relevant, and project based.
On top of this, many women in Guatemala have historically been silenced. The legacy of a 36-year civil war left them excluded from decision-making spaces and erased from conversations shaping the country’s future.
While many young people finish elementary school, secondary and high school remain out of reach for most, as education at these levels is largely privatized.
For girls, it is even more difficult. For example, 57% are forced into marriage or motherhood before the age of 18. Others are pushed toward informal labor because education is simply not seen as an option.
Q: When did you join MAIA and how has your career developed since then?
Saloj: I have been part of MAIA since 2010, when I began working as a mentor. In 2017, I became the school principal of the MAIA Impact School. This year, I took on the Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships role.
In 2020, as part of my professional journey, I received the One Young World COVID-19 Young Leaders Fund and completed the Emergent Leadership Program of INCAE Business School.
In 2024, I completed the Distinguished Humphrey Fellowship Program on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I have also represented MAIA at the UN, the Obama Foundation Girl's Opportunity Alliance, and the Zayed Sustainability Prize in Abu Dhabi.
Q: Describe MAIA’s formation and how it has evolved over time?
Saloj: MAIA, previously known as Starfish, was founded in 2007, creating a mentorship and scholarship program focusing on Indigenous girls born into the quadruple discrimination situation I described. Initially, the scholarship provided economic support to continue in the public educational system.
In 2017, to avoid relying on the sub-optimal public school system, we opened the MAIA Impact School. Our goal was to redefine what education looks like in rural Guatemala and ensure that girls have what they need to succeed.
Q: Can you elaborate on what the MAIA Impact School does?
Saloj: Our main program is the The MAIA Impact School, which provides a holistic education for girls grades 7-11, with an equal focus on rigorous academics, culture, and personal development.
Every aspect of the school has been developed to nourish and connect students’ talents with 21st century opportunities.
We directly serve 300 Girl Pioneers, which is what we call our students, and their families of approximately 2,000 people from over 45 rural villages in Sololá, Guatemala.
Our work is based on three core concepts. First, we empower educated girls to transform their communities and break cycles of poverty. Second, we implement cutting-edge methodologies in an empathy-driven environment. And third, we catalyze systemic change through proactive partnership and collaboration.
Q: How important is STEM education?
Saloj: Misogyny continues to be a deeply rooted challenge in rural and Indigenous communities across Guatemala. Even today, girls are still told that their only path is to become mothers and wives. Education is not offered to them as a door to opportunity—it’s a dream denied.
Young women are particularly vulnerable. Only 9% of high school graduates attain workplace skills and technology training. This means that fewer than 10% of Indigenous women are formally employed, and 80% live in poverty.
For most Girl Pioneers, their first time using a computer is when they enter MAIA’s academic leveling program, Project Impulso.
I didn't have any technology skills when I graduated from high school. I didn’t know about emails, computers, or even if STEM careers were an option.
This is why we are so passionate about our STEM program, which is informed by input from our students, their families. and our own experience as Indigenous women. We know that STEM education is critical to ensuring that girls gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence to lead choice-filled lives.
Q: How is the F5 STEM Grant helping MAIA today?
Saloj: We are putting a huge effort into redesigning our five-year science curriculum to make it more engaging, innovative, relevant, and project based. The funding will also support professional development for STEM educators and provide classrooms with the tools and materials needed to implement our vision.
Q: How does MAIA define success?
Saloj: At MAIA, we’re demonstrating what is possible when we invest in high-quality education, socio-emotional support, and female empowerment.
But these are not just words. The statistics back up what we are saying. We have a 97% retention rate, compared to only 20% of Indigenous girls at public high schools in Guatemala. An impressive 61% of our graduates achieve formal jobs, whereas it is fewer than 10% outside our system. And, notably, 73% of our graduates also continue to university. For Indigenous women across Guatemala, that figure is as low as 2%. Finally, our students graduate with 11 years of education; their mothers usually only have three years.
One of the most important things we do is to support our students in becoming empowered and successful without forgetting or leaving behind their roots. We help them find their voices and ensure there’s a life plan to achieve their dreams. I truly believe in the philosophy of “if she can see it, she can be it.”
Q: Can you bring a MAIA success story to life?
Saloj: There are so many! One that comes to mind is Sara, who is the only young woman in her family currently attending university and with a formal job.
In her community—where migration is very common—it was difficult at first for Sara to appreciate the importance of long-term education. On more than one occasion, she considered dropping out to earn money and have "nice things" like clothes and makeup, or even migrate irregularly to the U.S.
However, our mentors were persistent and consistent in their support of both Sara and her family. Thankfully, she graduated from high school and, through MAIA’s Launch Program, secured an internship with Mercado Global—an organization that exports textiles and promotes fair trade for women in Sololá. Soon, she was hired permanently due to her strong performance.
Sara told me recently that, thanks to the ongoing support and perseverance of the mentors, her perspective on education completely changed. She is currently studying at university, again with MAIA’s support, and was recently promoted to Project Supervisor at Mercado Global.
Like Sara, many Girl Pioneers face the same challenges. But we know we have the power to transform their futures and create a better world for all.
Q: What are your future plans for MAIA?
Saloj: With input from Girl Pioneers, their families, and our team, we’ve created MAIA’s Strategic Plan 2025-2029—a bold vision for transformative and systemic change. This includes our commitment to continually optimize our empowerment model for Girl Pioneers through contextualized innovation and ramp up investment in the organizational culture, structures, systems, and resources needed to sustain our core work.
It also includes a commitment to formalize and expand our model to enhance and expand local leadership and to share our approaches, tools, and lessons learned with other organizations, allies, and networks to scale our impact.
To learn more about our STEM Education Grant program, visit the F5 Global Good webpage. Also, please see my previous interview with 2024 STEM Education Grant partner Phoenix Space.