Chiapas Connectors are the Young Professionals of Chiapas International in DFW. Chiapas International, formerly known as The Chiapas Project, is a non-profit organization that provides funds to help break the cycle of poverty in Latin America. These loans provide seed capital to women to start self-sustaining businesses in their local communities. Since its inception in 2003 Chiapas International
has raised more than $6 million and has helped more than 300,000 women and their families in seven countries take the first step out of poverty. The Board of Directors and Advisory Board include many of the top philanthropic and business leaders of Dallas. Our Story
In 2003, Dallasites Lucy Billingsley and Kaki Hopkins were invited by the Washington, D.C.-based Grameen Foundation to visit Chiapas, Mexico and see a small micro finance institution (MFI) nonprofit bank at work. The MFI was providing a small glimmer of hope to Mayan women living on less than a dollar a day by providing loans of $50-60 for start-up businesses. Excited by the prospect of creating opportunities for the Mayan women to improve their lives, the women returned home and gathered friends. Most had never heard of Chiapas, few had traveled to the most Southeastern state of Mexico, but lives were being changed and it was a story that needed to be told. A group of thirty returned to Chiapas to listen as the Mayan women shared the challenges of their lives and explained how the small loans were providing the hope of opportunity. Lucy and her friends returned to Dallas with a mission to raise funds for loans to provide “a hand-up, not a hand-out” for the women of Chiapas. The Chiapas Project – A Global Microfinance Initiative – became a reality. In 2013, Chiapas Connectors, a committee of Chiapas International, was created to boost involvement from young professionals and spread the word about Chiapas and Microfinance loans throughout the DFW community. Led by founding chair Alyce Anderson and representing a wide variety of professional and geographical backgrounds, Chiapas Connectors share a passion for international relations, eradicating poverty, and community service.
