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Today, we are proud to share Adelante Mujer’s 2025 Impact Report.

As we look back on the past year, we are reminded that meaningful change rarely happens all at once. It begins with a single opportunity. A scholarship. A classroom. A mentor. A dream that is finally given room to grow.

At Adelante Mujer, we believe that when a woman is empowered through education, the impact extends far beyond her own life. It reaches her family, her community, and future generations. Every student we support represents possibility—not only for herself, but for countless others whose lives she will touch through her work.

Throughout 2025, we witnessed that transformation firsthand.

In Nicaragua, our students continued their journeys toward becoming healthcare professionals, serving in clinics, participating in clinical rotations, and preparing to address critical healthcare needs in underserved communities. We celebrated graduates who overcame extraordinary obstacles to earn their medical degrees and step into their professions with skill, compassion, and determination.

In Guatemala, we continued building a new chapter of our mission by supporting nursing students who are preparing to become healthcare leaders in rural communities where access to care remains limited. Their dedication and resilience inspire us every day.

One story featured in this year’s report comes from Xochil, a graduate who grew up in poverty, often lacking basic necessities and wondering if higher education would ever be possible. Through support from Adelante Mujer, she completed her studies and achieved her dream of becoming a doctor. Today, she serves as a powerful reminder of what becomes possible when opportunity meets determination.

Stories like hers are why we do this work.

But none of it happens alone.

Every scholarship awarded, every clinical rotation completed, every textbook purchased, and every graduation celebrated is made possible by a community of supporters who believe in the power of women to transform the world around them.

To our donors, volunteers, board members, partners, and advocates: thank you.

Thank you for believing in these students.

Thank you for investing in education as a pathway to lasting change.

Thank you for seeing potential where others see barriers.

Your generosity is helping build healthier communities, expand access to healthcare, and create opportunities that will continue creating impact for decades to come.

As exciting as this year has been, we know our work is far from finished.

More women are applying for support. More communities are in need of healthcare professionals. More futures are waiting to be unlocked.

The momentum is real. The impact is already happening. And together, we have an extraordinary opportunity to expand that impact in the years ahead.

As we look toward the future, we do so with optimism, determination, and hope.

Because when one woman rises, a family rises.

When a family rises, a community rises.

And when communities rise, the world changes.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

Read the full 2025 Impact Report and join us as we continue building a future where every woman has the opportunity to learn, lead, and serve.

Learn more or support this work:

www.womanadvance.com/donate

 

There are some trips that feel like a change of scenery.
And then there are trips that feel like a return—to purpose, to people, to the quiet reminder of why the work matters in the first place.

Our recent days in Santa Apolonia, Guatemala were the latter.

We traveled to spend time at The Center, Adelante Mujer’s sister site, where a group of young women are doing something extraordinary: pursuing education in healthcare fields in communities where access to both education and medical care is deeply limited. It’s the kind of place where the statistics we often talk about—barriers, inequities, lack of access—become very real, very human, and very personal.

Arriving and Being Welcomed In

From the moment we arrived, we were met with a kind of hospitality that is hard to describe unless you’ve experienced it. Meals shared around tables, conversations that move easily between languages, laughter that doesn’t need translation.

There is something sacred about being welcomed into a community not as a visitor, but as someone invited to walk alongside.

And that’s really what this trip was about—walking together.

The Heart of the Work

One of the most meaningful parts of our time was simply being with the students.

These are women who are studying to become nurses and healthcare providers—women who will go on to serve communities that currently have little to no consistent access to care. Many of them travel long distances. Some navigate financial uncertainty month to month. All of them are carrying not just their own hopes, but the hopes of their families and communities.

What struck me most wasn’t just their determination—it was their clarity.

They know why they are doing this.

They talk about returning to their communities. About caring for children, for mothers, for elders. About being the person someone can go to when there is nowhere else to go.

This is what investing in women’s education looks like in real time.
It’s not abstract. It’s not theoretical. It’s deeply practical, deeply relational, and deeply transformative.

A Day for the Children

We also had the opportunity to host a nutrition program day for local children.

There was face painting, games, coloring, and what felt like endless energy and joy. But underneath the fun was something more important—a reminder that care starts early. That health, dignity, and attention matter at every age.

Watching our team engage with the kids—laughing, playing, connecting—was one of those moments where you could see the full picture of the work. Not just education. Not just funding. But presence.

Seeing the Bigger Story

We spent time exploring the community and surrounding areas, including a day in Antigua, where history feels layered into every street.

And that contrast—between the beauty of these historic places and the ongoing realities faced in nearby communities—felt important to sit with.

Guatemala is a country of incredible richness—culture, tradition, resilience. And at the same time, there are real and persistent barriers that shape daily life for so many.

Both of those things are true at once.

And our role, as Adelante Mujer, is not to come in with answers—but to come in with commitment. To listen. To support. To invest in women who are already leading change from within their own communities.

Why This Matters

It can be easy to talk about impact in numbers.

And those numbers matter—because they represent real progress.

But trips like this remind us that behind every number is a name. A story. A future that is being actively rewritten.

When we support one woman in her education, we are not just changing one life. We are changing the experience of care for entire communities.

We are making it more likely that a child will be treated. That a mother will be supported. That someone, somewhere, will not have to go without care.

Walking Forward Together

We left Guatemala feeling both grounded and energized.

Grounded in the reality of the work—what it takes, what it asks of the women we serve, and what it asks of us.

And energized by what is possible when women are given the opportunity to pursue education, step into leadership, and serve their communities in meaningful ways.

This is what Adelante Mujer is about.

Not charity.
Not short-term solutions.
But long-term, relationship-based investment in women who are already changing the world around them.

We are grateful to walk alongside them.

Join Us in This Work

If this story moved you, there is a place for you in it.

The work happening in Guatemala—and across all of Adelante Mujer—is only possible because of people who choose to walk alongside these women. People who believe that education is powerful, that access to healthcare matters, and that investing in women creates lasting, generational change.

When you give, you are not just making a donation.
You are helping a woman stay in school.
You are helping a future nurse reach her community.
You are helping ensure that care exists where it otherwise might not.

We invite you to be part of this.

👉 Visit www.womanadvance.com/donate to support a student today.

Whether it’s one month of tuition or a longer commitment, every gift moves this work forward—and reminds these women that they are not walking alone.

 

Each year, as Easter arrives, the language of resurrection returns to public conversation. Yet resurrection is a word that reaches beyond theology. Even outside formal religion, it gestures toward something deeply human: the stubborn possibility that life can emerge again from places that appear exhausted, forgotten, or closed.

In the Christian story, resurrection is not merely a miracle that happens once. It is a disruption. A reordering. The narrative refuses the finality of violence and despair and insists that history itself can bend toward life.

But long before it became doctrine, resurrection was first an experience. The earliest witnesses did not encounter an abstract idea. They encountered the shock of continuity—the realization that what they thought had ended was somehow still unfolding.

In that sense, resurrection is less about supernatural spectacle and more about the restoration of possibility.

And possibility, when we look closely, is rarely abstract.

It is embodied in people.

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In rural parts of Central America, the distance between illness and care can be measured not only in miles—but in generations.

A mother in labor may travel hours to reach a clinic.

A child with a treatable infection may never see a doctor.

Entire communities often rely on under-resourced health posts staffed by overextended nurses or volunteers.

These conditions are not the result of fate. They are the outcome of structural realities—poverty, limited access to education, and the historic exclusion of women from professional opportunity.

Against that backdrop, the decision of a young woman to pursue medical training becomes something quietly radical.

It is an act of reordering the future.

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Adelante Mujer exists in the space where possibility begins to reopen.

The organization supports women pursuing careers in healthcare—particularly medicine and nursing—through scholarships, mentorship, and long-term accompaniment throughout their education.

At any given time, nearly 100 students are moving through this pathway, many of them the first in their families to attend university.

Medical education demands years of study, clinical training, and financial stability—resources rarely available to women growing up in rural communities. Without support, many of these students would simply have no path forward.

With support, however, something remarkable begins to happen.

A student becomes a graduate.

A graduate becomes a doctor.

A doctor returns to serve a community that has waited generations for care.

The transformation is not symbolic. It is measurable and lasting.

One physician may treat thousands of patients each year. Over the span of a career, that number multiplies into tens of thousands of encounters—diagnoses made, children vaccinated, births attended, lives extended.

What begins as the education of a single woman slowly reshapes the health of an entire region.

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In many ways, this work reflects the deeper intuition embedded within the Easter story itself:

Life expands through relationships of care.

Resurrection does not arrive as domination or spectacle. It arrives through restoration—through the rebuilding of what has been neglected or denied.

A community receives its first doctor.

A young girl sees a woman practicing medicine and imagines a different future for herself.

Patients who once traveled hours for care begin receiving treatment within their own village.

These are quiet transformations. They rarely make headlines. Yet they represent one of the most powerful forms of renewal available to any society:

the expansion of human capacity where it was once limited.

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For people of faith, Easter speaks of hope that persists even in the face of suffering.

For others, it still offers an equally important reminder: human societies are capable of repair.

The philosopher Hannah Arendt described the essence of human action as natality—the capacity for something genuinely new to enter the world.

Education is one of the clearest expressions of that possibility.

When a young woman becomes a physician in a place where women have historically been excluded from professional life, the future shifts in subtle but irreversible ways.

The story does not end where it once would have.

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Across Nicaragua and Guatemala, women who once faced nearly insurmountable barriers are now stepping into roles that reshape the health of their communities.

Each of them carries forward a small but profound act of renewal.

Taken together, those acts begin to look very much like resurrection—not as metaphor alone, but as the patient, determined work of rebuilding a more humane world.

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The work of building a more humane world rarely happens in dramatic moments. More often, it unfolds quietly—in classrooms, clinics, and communities where opportunity slowly replaces limitation.

At Adelante Mujer, we have the privilege of walking alongside women who are doing precisely that work.

Each scholarship is not simply financial assistance.

It is an investment in the long arc of health, dignity, and possibility for entire communities.

If this vision resonates with you, we invite you to become part of that unfolding story.

By supporting the education of a future physician, you participate in a form of renewal that extends far beyond any single moment.

Together, we help ensure that the next generation of doctors is already on its way.

Learn more or support this work:

www.womanadvance.com/donate

   

Every year on International Women’s Day, the world pauses to celebrate the power, resilience, and potential of women. We share stories of progress. We recognize the barriers that still exist. And we ask an important question:

What does real change for women actually look like?

At Adelante Mujer, we believe the answer begins with education.

When a woman gains access to education — especially higher education in fields like medicine and nursing — something extraordinary happens. Her life changes. But the transformation doesn’t stop there.

Her family changes.

Her community changes.

Entire healthcare systems begin to shift.

This is the quiet revolution we are witnessing every day.

In Nicaragua and Guatemala, Adelante Mujer supports women who are pursuing careers in healthcare — women who will become doctors, nurses, and community health leaders in places where medical care is often scarce.

These women are brilliant. Determined. Hardworking.

But the path to education is not easy.

Many of our students come from rural communities where university attendance is rare. Tuition, housing, transportation, and basic supplies can put higher education out of reach. Without support, these women would likely never have the opportunity to pursue their dreams.

That’s where you come in.

Because of supporters like you, our students are able to stay in school, complete their clinical training, and graduate ready to serve their communities. Many of them return home to provide healthcare in the very places where they grew up — places where doctors and nurses are desperately needed.

The ripple effects are profound.

A young girl sees a woman from her village wearing a white coat and realizes she can dream bigger too.

Families gain access to medical care they previously had to travel hours to receive.

Communities grow healthier, stronger, and more hopeful.

This is what investing in women looks like.

This International Women’s Day, we invite you to be part of this transformation.

You can sponsor one month of tuition for a student who is working toward a medical or nursing degree.

Or, if you feel called to make an even deeper investment, you can sponsor an entire year of education — a gift that changes the trajectory of a woman’s life and the health of her community.

Education is one of the most powerful tools we have for creating a more just and compassionate world.

When we educate women, we do more than support individual students.

We transform communities.

Today, on International Women’s Day, we invite you to stand with these remarkable women and invest in the future they are building.

👉 Sponsor a student today:

www.womanadvance.com/donate

Together, we are educating women.

Together, we are transforming communities.

Together, we are building a healthier and more hopeful world.

Not every story of transformation begins with a celebration.

Some begin with waiting.

Waiting for an interview.

Waiting for an acceptance letter.

Waiting for funding to come through.

Waiting for another semester, another chance, another opening.

At Adelante Mujer, we spend a lot of time in this in-between space. And while it may not always be visible, it is holy ground.

Recently, we celebrated an important milestone for Vilma and Melanie in Guatemala. Both young women have completed the first phase of their nursing education, earning their credentials as nursing technicians. This is no small achievement. Nursing education in Guatemala is rigorous, demanding, and deeply competitive. For Vilma and Melanie, this milestone represents years of discipline, sacrifice, and determination. And still — their journey is not over. They continue forward with two more years of study ahead, choosing again and again to keep going.

At the same time, two other young women in Guatemala are standing at the edge of a different threshold. They are preparing to begin medical school — one with an acceptance in hand, and the other waiting for final confirmation. These moments mark a profound turning point. Medical education opens doors not only for these women, but for their families and communities for generations to come. The difference between acceptance and waiting can mean the difference between two very different futures.

Meanwhile, in Nicaragua, the waiting looks different — and just as real.

Right now, more than 20 young women are waiting to see if they might be accepted into the Adelante Mujer program in a future semester. These are capable, determined women. Many are already studying. Many are working. All are hoping. Because of limited funding and limited spaces, not everyone can be accepted right away. For some, this means waiting another semester. For others, it means reapplying, interviewing again, and holding onto hope a little longer.

This is the reality of education rooted in excellence and equity: it is competitive, it is costly, and it requires patience.

But here is what we believe, deeply and without hesitation:

Waiting is not failure.

Waiting is not the end of the story.

Waiting is still movement.

At Adelante Mujer, we do not only walk with women at the finish line. We walk with them while they are gathering transcripts, preparing interviews, studying late into the night, and daring to believe that their future can be different. We walk with them when the answer is “not yet.” We walk with them when the dream still calls, even when the path feels long.

In a world that often measures worth by speed and outcomes, this work asks us to practice a different kind of love — one rooted in persistence, dignity, and faithful presence. Love that stays. Love that believes. Love that does not turn away when the road takes time.

This month, we are holding space for women in many places along the journey:

Women celebrating milestones.

Women beginning new chapters.

Women waiting, still hoping, still preparing.

Their stories are still being written.

Thank you for walking with them — not only in moments of arrival, but in the waiting that makes transformation possible.

An Invitation to Walk With Us

If this story speaks to you, we invite you to consider walking alongside these women.

Your support helps make waiting possible — covering tuition, books, transportation, and basic needs so that women can remain in school, prepare for interviews, and keep moving forward even when the path is long. Because of donors like you, a “not yet” does not become a dead end.

Every gift, in any amount, is an act of belief. An affirmation that these women’s dreams matter, that their education is worth investing in, and that their futures are still unfolding.

Thank you for being part of this story — for walking with women not only at moments of celebration, but in the quiet, courageous work of waiting.

If you’d like to support a student today, you can do so at

www.womanadvance.com/donate

Adelante, mujer. Forward, woman.

The new year didn’t begin in a classroom or an office for Jeyling. It began on muddy paths in the Rosario Murillo neighborhood—umbrella in hand, boots on her feet, clipboard tucked under her arm—going door to door to care for patients diagnosed with malaria and to check on the health of neighboring families.

“No obstacles stop us,” she shared.

Jeyling is an Adelante Mujer student, and this moment captures everything our work stands for: women showing up for their communities with courage, skill, and deep compassion—often long before diplomas are framed or titles are earned.

Her story is not an exception. It is evidence of what becomes possible when women are given access to education, support, and opportunity.

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The Global Impact of Educating and Supporting Women

Across the world, decades of research confirm what we see every day in Nicaragua and Guatemala: when women are educated and supported, entire communities thrive.

The World Bank consistently identifies girls’ and women’s education as one of the most effective strategies for reducing poverty and strengthening economic growth. Each additional year of schooling for a girl increases her future earnings by an estimated 10–20 percent, while also improving health, nutrition, and educational outcomes for her children.

Research further shows that women reinvest up to 90 percent of their income back into their families and communities—far more than men—creating a powerful multiplier effect that strengthens households and local economies.

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Women in Healthcare: A Multiplier for Community Health

In healthcare, the impact of investing in women is especially pronounced. The World Health Organization emphasizes that strengthening the health workforce—particularly through locally trained providers—is essential for improving access to care, reducing maternal and child mortality, and responding to infectious diseases.

Women healthcare workers often serve in their own communities, where they are trusted and culturally attuned. Their presence improves early diagnosis, disease prevention, and long-term public health outcomes—especially in rural and under-resourced regions.

This is precisely what we see in Jeyling’s work: care that is immediate, relational, and rooted in deep knowledge of community needs.

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Why Women Healers Create Lasting Change

According to UN Women, women’s leadership in health and development consistently leads to more inclusive and sustainable outcomes. Women healthcare providers are more likely to prioritize preventive care, family health education, and outreach to vulnerable populations—key factors in breaking cycles of illness and poverty.

When women are supported not only to study, but to lead, entire systems begin to shift. Health improves. Educational attainment rises. Economic resilience grows.

This is why Adelante Mujer focuses on accompaniment—walking alongside students throughout their education and early professional years. Our goal is not simply graduation, but transformation.

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From One Woman to Many Lives

Jeyling’s day—treating malaria, checking in on families, navigating difficult terrain—is not just about one patient or one neighborhood.

It is about children staying healthy enough to attend school, parents being able to work, and communities becoming more resilient in the face of preventable disease.

This is how change happens: woman by woman, household by household, community by community.

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Looking Ahead to 2026

As we step into 2026, Adelante Mujer is filled with gratitude and anticipation.

This year will bring new students beginning their journeys, current students entering advanced clinical training, graduates stepping fully into professional roles, and deeper community health impact across Nicaragua and Guatemala.

None of this happens without the generosity and belief of our donors and supporters.

When you invest in Adelante Mujer, you are not funding a moment—you are fueling a movement of women healers who are already changing the world, one muddy path at a time.

Thank you for walking alongside them.

Here’s to great things coming in 2026!

Adelante, mujer. Forward, woman.

References

World Bank. (2020). Girls’ education and women’s empowerment. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/girlseducation

World Bank. (2018). Missed opportunities: The high cost of not educating girls. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/girlseducation/publication/missed-opportunities-the-high-cost-of-not-educating-girls

World Health Organization. (2016). Global strategy on human resources for health: Workforce 2030. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-HIS-HWF-2016.01

UN Women. (2020). Women and health. https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/women-and-health

“Good evening, I am Laysha, coordinator of the 6th year of Intercultural Medicine.

We are deeply grateful to Adelante Mujer for accompanying us throughout these years of training through their valuable scholarship program. Your support has been fundamental not only for our academic growth but also for our personal and professional development as women.

Thank you for believing in us, for encouraging us to keep going, and for giving us the opportunity to fulfill our dreams. Your commitment to education and women’s empowerment leaves an indelible mark on our lives and on society.

With gratitude and admiration, thank you, Adelante Mujer, for walking alongside us.”

To you, our donors: this is your impact.

Because of you, women are completing their medical school education, stepping into leadership, and preparing to serve their communities as healers and professionals.

Thank you for believing in women.

Thank you for walking with Adelante Mujer.

Adelante, mujer. Forward, woman.

A Milestone of Hope: Adelante Mujer Celebrates 106 Doctors in Nicaragua

This week marks one of the most meaningful moments in Adelante Mujer’s history.

As the semester comes to a close, our 11 graduating seniors gathered to receive the symbols of everything they have worked for: their final stethoscopes and their long-awaited white coats. These tools are more than equipment — they represent years of sacrifice, discipline, and courage. They represent the dreams of young women who refused to give up.

And with this powerful group of new graduates, Adelante Mujer has officially reached a milestone we once only dreamed of:

🌟 106 women in Nicaragua have now become doctors through Adelante Mujer.

From rural communities to city clinics, from crowded hospitals to underserved regions, these 106 women now serve as healers, leaders, and advocates. They care for mothers and babies, treat chronic diseases, respond to emergencies, and provide compassionate medical care in communities where doctors are desperately needed.

Behind every white coat is a story — a daughter whose family sold food at the market to support her dream, a first-generation college student studying by candlelight, a young woman who walked miles to get to class, a student who refused to quit even when life made it nearly impossible.

And behind every one of those stories… is you.

Your generosity has provided:

✔ tuition support

✔ stethoscopes and clinical tools

✔ transportation assistance

✔ laptops

✔ exam fees

✔ emergency support

✔ hope

Without donors, these young women would never have had the chance to step into the medical profession. Your belief in their potential has rewritten their futures — and the futures of the thousands of patients they will care for throughout their lifetimes.

Why This Moment Matters

Reaching 100 doctors isn’t just symbolic. It means:

• More doctors in rural areas where healthcare is limited

• More women in leadership within the medical field

• More families receiving compassionate, culturally grounded care

• More girls growing up believing they can be anything — even a doctor

Adelante Mujer began by helping a handful of women pursue medical school. Today, we stand in awe of what this community has built: a movement of women who heal.

The Next 100 Starts Now

While we celebrate this incredible milestone, we also recognize that the need has never been greater. Many more young women are waiting — hopeful, determined, and ready to study medicine… if they can receive support.

This is where you come in.

Your gift today directly funds a woman’s medical education.

It places a stethoscope in her hands.

A white coat on her shoulders.

And a future full of possibilities before her.

 

👉 Donate today: www.womanadvance.com/donate

✨ Help us open the door for the next 100 women doctors.

Thank you for standing with these courageous women, for believing in their dreams, and for helping transform healthcare — one doctor at a time.

Together, we are building a world where women heal the world.

And we’re just getting started.

 

Adelante, mujer. Forward, woman.

On this Giving Tuesday, we’re reminded of a simple but powerful truth:

Light shared is never lost.

That’s the heart of Adelante Mujer’s work — and the heart of every person who chooses to stand with women in Nicaragua and Guatemala as they pursue their dreams of becoming nurses and doctors.

When a woman receives educational support, her life changes. But the impact doesn’t stop with her. Her family feels that light. Her community feels that light. Patients who come to her for care — often in places where there are few healthcare providers — feel that light too.

Your generosity doesn’t just help one woman succeed.

It illuminates an entire path forward.

Today, on Giving Tuesday, we invite you to be part of that light. Your donation directly supports women who are studying against all odds, determined to create healthier, stronger communities for generations to come.

Your gift is more than charity — it’s a spark of dignity, opportunity, and hope.

If you feel called to help fight poverty by supporting women’s education, you can make a Giving Tuesday gift at:

👉 www.womanadvance.com/donate

Thank you for helping light the way.

Together, we rise.

Adelante, mujer. Forward, woman.

🎉💙 WE DID IT — AND EARLY! 💙🎉

Because of your incredible generosity, The Rita Thomas $50,000 Matching Gift Challenge is officially FULLY FUNDED!

This is an extraordinary milestone for Adelante Mujer — one that means more women in Nicaragua and Guatemala will have access to medical and nursing education, mentorship, and a clear path toward becoming the healthcare providers their communities desperately need.

Reaching this goal early doesn’t mean our work is done. As we move into the holiday and end-of-year giving season, your continued support still matters deeply. Every gift—of any size—helps us fuel scholarships, supplies, transportation, clinical hours, and so much more.

Because of you, we are changing the world together.

Thank you for believing in these women, their futures, and their impact. ✨

Adelante, mujer. Forward, woman.