PeaceJam is developing Guatemala’s future leaders: How TPG is giving back and how you can help

09.10.2023 - 22:21 / thepointsguy.com / Brian Kelly

I just returned from an incredible weekend in Guatemala for PeaceJam's annual conference in San Lucas Toliman with fellow TPGers Courtney Loughran (senior financial planning and analysis associate), Emily Thompson (credit cards writer) and Hannah Streck (senior SEO manager). We also were joined by The Points Guy founder Brian Kelly and his 1-year-old son Dean.

PeaceJam is an international nonprofit organization that partners with Nobel Peace Prize winners to inspire the next generation of local leaders. Students develop conflict resolution and community improvement skills through mentorship from these laureates. PeaceJam chapters and annual conferences held in Liberia, Ghana, South Africa and Guatemala provide platforms for teenagers to develop leadership abilities and take on important roles in their schools and communities.

TPG has been supporting PeaceJam since 2014, sponsoring a school in Guatemala, participating in conferences and offering mentorships and scholarships to students in all four countries.

We recently had the opportunity to attend the annual PeaceJam conference in Guatemala to further engage with the organization. These are some of the highlights and our biggest takeaways from the trip.

This year's PeaceJam conference in Guatemala featured Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchú as the mentor. Menchú, the country's only Nobel laureate, has dedicated her life to advocating for the rights of Indigenous people and was a major figure in promoting peace during Guatemala's brutal civil war from 1960 to 1996, which claimed 200,000 lives. She continues her work through the Rigoberta Menchú Tum Foundation, which supports Indigenous communities. One of her projects is the Centro Educativo Pavarotti, a junior high school for students ages 12 to 16, where she oversees operations.

In total, more than 200 students, school administrators and PeaceJam mentors gathered for a transformative experience at this year's conference. The TPG team arrived from Panajachel by lancha (speedboat) at the San Lucas Toliman dock, where hundreds of students, faculty members and staff members warmly greeted us. Menchú provided a traditional floral arrangement to Brian and Dean Kelly.

She began the conference with a traditional Mayan ceremony of incense and music. Menchú's opening speech centered around "La Madre Tierra: Mi primer y único hogar" ("Mother Earth: My first and only home"), which encouraged students to engage in sustainable practices.

One of the most memorable moments at the conference was when teams of five students demonstrated both creativity and innovative thinking as they presented their sustainable business ideas in a "Shark Tank"-style format. The student group presentations centered around