The US foreign aid funding freeze is threatening the stability of community-based organizations and their vital work for children and young people worldwide.
Each year, the Maya Ajmera Sustainability Award recognizes the outstanding achievements of GFC’s community-based partners from different parts of the world, who are committed to creating lasting change for children and young people in their communities. The award – which includes a grant to the organization – is named after GFC’s founder, Maya Ajmera, who currently serves as the President and CEO of Society for Science and the Executive Publisher of Science News. Read more about the Sustainability Award here.
Meet our 2025 winners
Colectivo Vida Digna and Martynka are the 2025 winners of the Maya Ajmera Sustainability Award – two organizations doing very different work under GFC’s focus area of Safety and Wellbeing but with the same commitment to creating sustainable change for the children, young people, and families they serve.
Colectivo Vida Digna | Guatemala
Colectivo Vida Digna (Vida Digna) is a Mayan organization, with deep roots in the Mayan heritage and culture. The organization’s work consists of two primary facets: the first being youth and migration and the second, culture and Indigenous identity.
Many young people from Guatemala seek to migrate to the United States in the hopes of a better future by leaving behind structural, systemic barriers. However, many end up being detained and forced to return home with broken dreams and crushed spirits. Vida Digna supports these young people and their families as they journey home, helping them navigate emotional, logistical, and financial challenges. It also advocates for the safe passage of returning migrants – especially girls and young women – to ensure protection from sexual and gender-based violence. The organization helps youth reintegrate into their communities, offering educational support, vocational training, and employment support. Vida Digna is now focusing on empowering youth to build their futures in Guatemala without feeling they need to migrate, helping build confidence through skill development and livelihood training, building on each family’s native talents and livelihoods.
Parallel to this work, Vida Digna strives to preserve the Mayan culture among young people, working closely with Indigenous communities who continue to be excluded from access to basic rights and social justice. The organization runs a training center and provides workshops for Indigenous women not only on entrepreneurship and skills training but also on sexuality, health, and relationships to help them to develop their voices and gain critical perspectives to promote autonomy.
Vida Digna intends to use the funds from the Sustainability Award in four ways:
To increase support for vulnerable youth from rural communities
To provide commercial assistance to Indigenous mid-wives selling local products, helping them promote their business and increase sales to maintain a sustainable income
To help two weaving families promote Mayan textiles and engage young people in sustainable work
To improve the organization’s own facilities and cover fixed costs such as rent given the financial pressure imposed by the funding cuts by the US government
We’re grateful to have been considered for this award. We know it’s a limited resource, but we’re going to make the most of it. We want it to strengthen our work with young people, midwives, and weaving families, and to improve our spaces. With this, we can show that yes—it’s possible to work in Guatemala, in community, with dignity and with quality.
Carlos Escalante Villagrán, Co-founder and Managing Director, Colectivo Vida Digna
Martynka | Poland
From the moment it was founded in 2022 – in response to Russia’s war on Ukraine – Martynka established itself as a source of safety and care to women and their children fleeing the war. In the three years since, the organization – which is led by a group of brave young people – has responded to nearly 4000 requests for help and has remained a vital source of support to displaced persons.
Martynka positions itself as a “friend to every refugee”. And indeed, the organization is committed to providing the care and support that a friend would offer to girls and women displaced by the war, those experiencing sexual exploitation and gender-based violence, non-binary and transgender people, sex workers, and more others from various backgrounds.
Martynka offers this help through a simple yet effective model – a free helpline hosted on Telegram (a free messaging app). The helpline takes the form of a bot but is in fact, operated by real people – Martynka’s founder, Nastya, and dedicated hotline operators Nastya, Niko, Rita, and Sonya. The team responds to women and girls reaching out for help in four languages – Ukrainian, English, Polish, and Russian – ensuring they feel comfortable and supported from the get-go. Martynka runs a center for girls and women in need of help, providing meals, lodging, and support services, providing a space for them to take refuge and begin to recover. Addtionally, the team connects women with psychologists, doctors, and lawyers, accompanies them if they have to go to the police, and get women the help they need if they have experienced abuse. To date, Martynka has assisted around 300 women and girls in cases of violence. The youth-led organization plans to use the award from GFC to support three key initiatives:
An annual team retreat – that will help strengthen team cohesion and wellbeing, especially for team members affected by the war working remotely across four countries
The printing and distribution of the Rape Survivor Guide – a 40+ page resource offering comprehensive information on shelters, legal aid, and medical support in Poland for survivors of sexual violence
The creation of the Uncomfortable Dictionary – a language tool empowering refugee women and girls to talk about vital topics like consent, period care, and sexual health
While sexual and reproductive rights are under attack worldwide, we are very proud to receive this award. We will use the prize to develop new community-driven solutions made for and by survivors. Although Ukrainian organizations are losing funding as the invasion receives less media attention, we remain committed to fighting for justice for the overlooked.
Nastya Podorozhnya, Founder, Martynka
Congratulations to both our winners! We can’t wait to share more about their work towards creating a safer future for all children, young people, and their communities.
