Ronaldo Andrés Gómez
2023 IVLP Impact Award Project: Reading Club about Human Rights, Environment, and Financial Literacy in San Mateo IxtatánGuatemala
Ronaldo Andrés Gómez is the CEO of the Ixtatán Foundation, where he leads several education projects addressing the youth of Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Ronaldo graduated with an education degree from the Universidad del Valle of Guatemala and master's degree in research from San Carlos de Guatemala University. He manages several education projects sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala to promote prosperity and social mobility in Guatemala.
2023 IVLP Impact Award Project: Reading Club about Human Rights, Environment, and Financial Literacy in San Mateo Ixtatán (Continued)
This 2023 project built on the success of the 2022 efforts, working this time with 60 Chuj Mayan leaders. Reading club sessions focused on environmentalism, human rights and financial literacy. Following the 40 reading sessions, teachers and parents noticed an increase in the participants’ reading fluency and critical thinking skills.
2022 IVLP Impact Award Project: Reading Club for Chuj teenagers of San Mateo Ixtatán
Developed in collaboration with the community library of the Ixtatán Foundation, this project developed and strengthened the reading and writing skills of adolescents of Chuj Mayan origin from San Mateo Ixtatán Huehuetenango, Guatemala. From June to November 2022, 64 youth between the ages of 10 and 15 participated in reading clubs focused on the themes of Mayan peoples and the environment, climate change, deforestation and reforestation, recycling, the right to equality and non-discrimination and the right to identity. The clubs also focused on personal finance, including saving, budgeting and sharing stories of entrepreneurs in the community.
"I felt delighted with the project results, especially to see those children and [youth] enjoying each lesson; it does not have a comparison." - Ronaldo Andrés Gómez
IVLP Exchange Experience
Ronaldo participated in the IVLP Project The Problem We All Live With: Dismantling Racial and Social Injustice in 2021, organized by the U.S. Department of State and FHI 360. He also participated in the IVLP Project The Problem We All Live With: Dismantling Racial and Social Injustice in 2022, organized by the U.S. Department of State and the Institute of International Education, in partnership with Global Ties Alabama, Tulsa Global Alliance, and WorldChicago.
Ronaldo's exchange experience led him to develop his IVLP Impact Award Project: "The discussions on social inequality allowed me to reaffirm my commitment to continue working, from different areas, fields and angles, to build a more inclusive and equitable world."
U.S. Communities Visited in 2022
Montgomery, AL; Washington, DC; Chicago, IL; Tulsa, OK