Promoting Youth Leadership for Gender Justice (HEEL)
We work with youth-led groups and networks of community-based organizations in Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua to engage boys and young men in promoting healthy masculinities and advancing gender justice.
Global Fund for Children supports youth-led groups and networks of community-based organizations in Central America that are engaging boys and young men in promoting healthy masculinities and advancing gender justice.
This initiative is a partnership between the Summit Foundation, Fondation CHANEL, and GFC. It aims to create lasting individual and social change for gender equity in Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua by:
Supporting the efforts of youth-led groups to promote healthy masculinities, champion the gender justice movement, and strengthen the leadership skills of boys and young men so they can act as community promoters of healthy masculinities
Promoting storytelling to spark dialogue, challenge predominant ideas of masculinity, and foster the contributions of young men to narratives for gender justice
Creating safe spaces for boys and young men to challenge stigmas, attitudes, and laws that undermine gender equality
Strengthening networks for advocacy and learning by connecting youth-led organizations and movements promoting healthy masculinities in Central America
The Promoting Youth Leadership for Gender Justice initiative is also known as the HEEL initiative, a Mayan word that means change and transformation. The initiative builds on the progress made during GFC’s six-year Changing Gender Attitudes, Empowering Girls initiative, which was also a partnership with the Summit Foundation, with additional support from Hawk Rock Foundation and the Girls Rights Project.
Learn more about these initiatives by reading the stories below.
Project Partners
Academia de Liderazgo Social
Tegucigalpa | Honduras
Academia de Liderazgo Social is a youth-led organization that empowers children and young people to take on leadership roles and get involved in political and social issues. It was founded by university students and provides youth with leadership development programs and training in community organizing.
Asociación SERniña
Sacatepéquez | Guatemala
Asociación SERniña is a youth-led organization that fosters gender equality and empowers children and youth to reach their full potential. In partnership with local schools and community groups in Chimaltenango and Sacatepéquez, SERniña facilitates workshops on gender equality, leadership skills, and healthy masculinities, including a comprehensive program for boys and young men known as SerNiño.
Educate.
Santa Bárbara | Honduras
Educate. is a nonprofit organization in Honduras that empowers children and youth through education. Founded in 2017, the organization established a Youth Center and Municipal Public Library in Trinidad that provides books, internet access, computers, and safe spaces for learning and community engagement.
Fundación Adrián Ramos
Valle del Cauca | Colombia
Fundación Adrián Ramos is a community-based organization in Villa Rica, Cauca, that promotes the holistic development of children and adolescents through sports, dance, agroecology, and psychosocial support. With a Comprehensive Life Training Center established in 2015, the foundation provides free classes, football tournaments, and cultural and educational activities that nurture young people’s physical, emotional, and social wellbeing.
Fundación Hüaitoto
Valle del Cauca | Colombia
Fundación Hüaitoto works in Colombia’s Pacific region and with diaspora communities to strengthen collective bonds and promote equity, environmental justice, and cultural dignity. The organization prioritizes women, youth, and the LGBTQ+ community through initiatives in sexuality education, sustainable community tourism, gender-based violence prevention, and storytelling, empowering Afro-descendant communities to lead transformative change.
Jóvenes Creadores del Chocó
Chocó | Colombia
Jóvenes Creadores del Chocó (JCH) is a youth-led organization in Quibdó, Colombia, that uses arts and culture to create safe and supportive spaces for children, adolescents, and young people in vulnerable conditions. Founded in 2008, JCH engages youth through theater, dance, and other creative practices, fostering talent, resilience, and community pride while challenging exclusion and marginalization.
Red de Jóvenes Artistas por la Justicia Social
Quetzaltenango | Guatemala
Red de Jóvenes Artistas por la Justicia Social is a network of young people from different departments in Guatemala who use art as a tool for advocacy and empowerment. Its members have organized workshops, festivals, murals, trainings, debates, and exhibitions to raise awareness about issues that impact youth, to influence public policy, and to spark dialogue.
Voces Mesoamericanas, Acción con Pueblos Migrantes A.C.
Chiapas | México
Voces Mesoamericanas, Acción con Pueblos Migrantes A.C. works in Mexico to promote the rights and wellbeing of Indigenous migrants and to build lekil kuxlejal (good living) in transnational communities across Mesoamerica and North America. The organization empowers Indigenous children and youth to see themselves as leaders with dreams and potential, and it provides workshops, courses, and community meetings in rural schools, as well as legal services and alternatives to detention for unaccompanied migrant children.
Warriors Zulu Nation Honduras
San Pedro Sula | Honduras
Founded by two brothers who discovered breakdancing as an alternative to gangs when they were teenagers, Warriors Zulu Nation Honduras is a youth-led organization that uses urban arts to engage young people. It empowers youth in neighborhoods with a significant gang presence to practice different art forms while exploring social issues that impact their communities.
*Note
This initiative also has a partner organization in Nicaragua. For security reasons, GFC is not naming the Nicaraguan organization.
A healthy masculinity is understanding that we have to take care of ourselves and others... this process has made me become autonomous, I discovered more about myself. / La masculinidad sana es entender que tenemos que cuidarnos y cuidar a lxs demás… este proceso me ha hecho ser autónomo, descubiri más cosas de mi mismo.
Leo, Culturas Campesinas, Colombia
It is possible to be a non violent man… I practice it (a healthy masculinity) in the kitchen that is my great passion and has allowed me to challenge gender stereotypes. / Es posible ser un hombre no violento… yo la practico en la cocina que es mi gran pasión y me ha permitido desafiar estereotipos de género.
Ángel, OYE, Honduras
I try to practice a healthy masculinity by being in touch with my emotions and spending time with my family.. listening to my grandparents. / Trato de practicar una masculinidad sana al estar más en contacto con mis emociones y pasar tiempo de calidad con mi familia… escuchar a mis abuelos.
Project Partners
