The Pulsera Project's
Year-End Review 2024-2025
INTRO
The past school year was both inspiring and challenging for The Pulsera Project. We were honored to work alongside hundreds of schools across the U.S., strengthening existing partnerships with teachers and students and welcoming new ones with open arms.
Year after year it is these students and teachers who continue to bring our mission to life alongside the hundreds of artisans and community members we’re proud to call our pulsera family in Guatemala and Nicaragua. Together this collaboration brought to life powerful lessons on solidarity, fair trade, and global citizenship in classrooms nationwide.
Together, their efforts helped fund over $130,000 in income for artisans, and an additional $30,080 for artisans benefits and donations to community organizations in Guatemala and Nicaragua, including another successful phase of our long running housing project.
At the same time, we faced the reality of reduced sales and lower school participation, continuing a trend many educators trace back to the lasting effects of the pandemic. Fewer students are joining clubs, teachers face greater barriers to hosting events, and burnout remains a common challenge.
Even so, our “siempre adelante” spirit remains strong. With new collaborations, including a new housing support program for Guatemalan artisans, expanded teacher & educational partnerships, innovative resources for classrooms, and the continued dedication of our small team and Central American partners, we step forward into the new school year with renewed commitment to building bridges of solidarity, sustaining Fair Trade work, and inspiring the next generation of global citizens.
The Project Mission
As in past years, The Pulsera Project continues to focus on developing our three core components:
1.) Creating Employment for Central American Artisans
2.) Educating U.S. Students Through School Pulsera Sales
3.) Investing Proceeds in Central American Communities
Our Social Enterprise Model
The Pulsera Project’s social enterprise model is unique because our project is based on solidarity and mutual benefit – U.S. students help create opportunity in Central America through pulsera sales while also learning about the artisans and communities whom their sales benefit. Teachers travel to Central America to learn from the leaders of the groups we collaborate with and those artisans also learn about the U.S. student enthusiasm and where their pulseras end up.
By weaving pulsera sales into an educational program we can provide opportunities for Central Americans while also educating thousands of U.S. students about fair trade, Central American culture, and global citizenship.
We encourage students to open their hearts to care about others but we also encourage students to open their minds to the amazing diversity of ideas and perspectives in our world. This win-win model is the magic of The Pulsera Project.
Employment
Education
Impact
The Artisans of Nicaragua & Guatemala
For most Pulsera Project artisans, making pulseras is either a means of paying their way through university or a supplementary income to help provide for their families. When not weaving, many artisans work in the informal economy (ie. selling other artisan goods, food, clothing, etc.) or in seasonal agriculture (coffee picking, sustenance farming, etc.). In other words, most don’t have a fixed job with a steady paycheck other than money they receive from the pulseras. So as important as total amount is that they earn making pulseras, their greatest appreciation is receiving predictable and consistent income.
This year we were tasked with delivering bad news to the artisans. After years of keeping pulsera artisans employed through the pandemic and its recovery, we had to reduce pulsera production to match our sales and insure the long term sustainability of the project, employment, education and impact. We still delivered $147,795 in artisan income and benefits, but it required an adjustment from years prior.
In the spirit of solidarity, our artisan groups accepted and understood the necessary shift, and also embraced the same spirit of optimism that has made them such incredible partners over the years The resounding sentiment from our partners was “hay tiempos de vacas gordas y vacas flacas”, meaning that “there are good times and bad times…both are to be expected”.
Numbers aside, the real value of the project is measured in human connections - sharing, laughing and creating memories. This year had no shortage of these moments. Whether it was working together, cracking jokes, or accompanying one another through hardship, it was another great year of learning and growing together.
The U.S. Educational Program
Intro
This year we were thrilled to continue partnering with our teacher and language advocacy friends across the U.S. We were happy to appear on Joshua Cabral’s World Language podcast, continue our partnerships with Vista, AATSP, and Sigma Delta Pi, and continue to collaborate with teachers across the U.S. to advocate the project’s values and educational possibilities of pulsera sales.
Finally, we were thrilled to bring our partners at Vista down to Guatemala for an incredible trip that showcased the artisans and groups we partner with in Central America. The trip sparked many ideas for new initiatives, partnerships, and ways to expand the project as we move adelante in 2025!
New Initiatives
One of the educational highlights of the past school year was offering classes the ability to video chat with Nicaraguan pulsera artisan Reyna Gutierrez who happily shared with students her experiences living in Nicaragua and working for The Pulsera Project. Speaking with pulsera artisans has been a long-requested opportunity from dozens of schools, and we’re thrilled that in the first year fourteen different classes took advantage of this incredible educational opportunity. Feedback from teachers and students was overwhelmingly positive, and added a whole new layer to the pulsera sale experience for these classes. We’re grateful to Reyna for lending her time to this initiative, and to all the classes who participated; we’re eager to keep this program alive & well into the coming school year!
Teacher Partnerships & Conferences
This year we were so happy to continue our teacher conference program in states across the country. Each year we sponsor pulsera educators to go to language conferences and spread the word about the project, and we appreciate the following teachers who represented us this past school year:
Porsha Prudencio (Virginia), Yajaira Diaz (North Carolina), Colleen Vallin (Minnesota), Maureen Holbrook (Massachusetts), Brandon Fitzsimmons (Indiana), and Sarah Ross (Ohio).
Educational Collaborations
We’re excited to continue collaborations with organizations that share our values and mission to expand language and cultural education around the US. Here’s a short list of some of our partners:
Vista – once again sponsoring two incredible teachers to join our Teacher Trip to Guatemala, Vista has continued to be a crucial partner. We were thrilled to be able to share with some of the Vista team a view of the project from Guatemala firsthand, as we traveled through the country in April 2025.
JNCL-NCLIS – We were honored to attend Language Advocacy Days 2025 as an official delegate of the JNCL, an organization that exists to protect and promote language education programs through state and federal legislative policy. We’d like to thank our longtime friend and advocacy expert, Amanda Seewald, for connecting us with this impactful organization that allows The Pulsera Project to actively participate in preserving language education programs across the U.S.
Sigma Delta Pi – founded in 1919, Sigma Delta Pi is the largest honors society for Spanish learners at the college level. We have worked with SDP to develop custom pulseras for their members, and look forward to other collaborations in the future.
AATSP – we continue to partner with the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, sponsoring several scholarships for the Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica and the Sociedad Hispanica de Amistad.
NSE – We are extremely grateful to the National Spanish Exam, who continue to sponsor a teacher to join us in Guatemala.
Teacher Trip to Guatemala
We always look forward to our teacher trip to Guatemala throughout the school year– and this year’s journey was one for the books! The trip helps connect the many facets of The Pulsera Project, bringing together the artisans who make the incredible pulseras with the teachers who facilitate their sales in the U.S. Along the way, the breathtaking landscapes and vibrant cultural experiences deepen the bonds between educators and our incredible partner organizations.
We were amazed by the openness, kindness and generosity demonstrated by the teachers who joined us this year. We start the school year reinvigorated by the ideas, discussions and moments of discovery we shared in Guatemala with teachers who help make our mission possible.
A heartfelt thank you to Vista Higher Learning and the National Spanish Exam for continuing to sponsor attendance for our teacher trip. It means so much to us that these trips remain accessible to all teachers with the desire to attend, and these sponsorships make that possible.
Social Impact
When the project first started, its sole priority was creating income and employment for artisans. Then, as schools started getting involved with the project, we began investing equal time and energy in developing educational materials for students and Spanish classrooms. Next, as the project grew and pulseras sales flourished, we channeled our resources into community impact and supporting local organizations in Central America.
While we strive to improve pulseras sales to continue funding these initiatives, we have also begun testing new ways of supporting organizational partners. This year we experimented with an online funding campaign through Zeffy, to raise funds for an artisan housing project with Cojolya. In total, the drive brought in $4,450 and The Pulsera Project contributed an additional $10,550 to fully fund the project for 15 families in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala.
In addition to the housing project, we also supported 4 local organizations with an additional $13,600 in grants, bringing the total amount spent in Central American communities to $202,347 - going to artisans, entrepreneurs, and organizations. A list of organizations we financially supported this year:
ASOMUJERDI
A group of super inspiring young women who work tirelessly for the empowerment of indigenous women through the right to communication and access to education. We are pleased to support the improvement of their community radio studio, a scholarship program and part of the organization's administrative expenses.
ASOGEN
A women's organization with a long history in defending the rights of survivors of gender-based violence. We supported a group of young women university students and helped with general operating expenses.
Cojolya
One of the most impressive and experienced fair trade organizations we have come across. They improve the quality of life of artisans through the commercialization of artisan products of extraordinary quality. We are delighted to contribute part of their operating expenses and fund a housing program for artisans and their families.
IMAP
Teaches and promotes sustainable agricultural practices based on ancestral knowledge and the empowerment of communities. This year we financed a community garden at a local primary school and contributed to the operating expenses and improvement of the organization's infrastructure.
Waricha
A group of enthusiastic young people who learn and share about gender, migration and health topics. Together we developed a scholarship program for university studies, and we supported their administrative expenses and the development of a training program.
Project Operations
Overview
After years of working from separate offices in the U.S. and Nicaragua, the project has transitioned to operating as one unified team. This is both a philosophical and practical adjustment for the staff, and we're already seeing fruits from its change.
The Pulsera Project’s headquarters remains in Charleston, SC, while some staff work remotely from Guatemala and Nicaragua. Jillian, Chris, Colin and Evan have worked together for over a decade, but now co-manage every aspect of the project, while maintaining certain divisions of labor for efficiency and effectiveness.
This includes school partnerships, balancing tasks that range from emails and educational resource development to pulsera box shipping, accounting, and relationships with artisans and collaborations with partner organizations in Central America. They also oversee social media, website design, educational partnerships, video chats with clubs & classes, and the counting of hundreds of thousands of pulseras each year — all while continuing to shape the vision for The Pulsera Project’s future.
Project Administration
In 2024–2025, as in prior years, salaries were paid to Team Pulsera to manage the educational and artisan programs. At the same time, volunteer board members continued to dedicate significant time and energy in support of the thousands of teachers and students who also gave their efforts to the project.
A major focus of the board’s work this past year was steering The Pulsera Project through its current financial realities, with a drop off in pulsera sale averages and number of schools participating. B
Board members collaborate closely with staff in both the U.S. and in Central America to develop concrete strategies that ensure the project remains sustainable and thriving for many years to come. The board meets monthly to oversee general administration, coordinate meetings and activities, provide guidance on financial decisions, and, together with staff and the Investment Committee, review and recommend social impact investments.
Adelante in 2025-2026
As we reflect on this past year, one thing remains abundantly clear: The Pulsera Project is sustained not only by numbers and sales, but also by the resilience of our relationships. From the artisans & communities in Guatemala and Nicaragua who remind us why we do this work in the first place, to the teachers and students across the U.S. who continue to carry the mission forward despite new challenges, our extended community has shown once again that collaboration across borders is the beating heart of The Pulsera Project.
In the coming year in the U.S. we look forward to expanding our educational resources, deepening our partnerships with a range of educational collaborators, continuing to lean into the importance of Global Citizenship and cross-cultural exchange, and working to improve the quality of school pulsera sales in any way we can. In Central America we are excited to travel more with artisans, sharing special moments, developing new projects with social impact organizations and guiding another transformative teacher trip.
We remain deeply grateful for the collaborations in both the U.S. and Central America that have carried the project forward for over fifteen years, and we’re excited about strengthening those bonds while forging new ones. With open hearts and our “siempre adelante” spirit intact, we step into the coming year committed to creating & sustaining Fair Trade job opportunities, nurturing global citizenship, and continuing to weave together lives and communities through the simple beauty of a pulsera.
By the Numbers
Artisans Employed: ~178
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Artisans and Household Members Supported: ~904
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School Collaborations: 766
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Pulseras Purchased: 87,358
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Total 2024-2025 Sales: $537,739
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Total Donations Received: $8,103
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Money Spent on Fundraising: $0
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Total Invested/Spent in Nicaragua/Guatemala: $202,347
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Total Invested in Artisan Income: $131,345
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Total invested in Artisan Benefits, Grants, and Collaborations: $30,080
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