One of the highlights of 2023 has been the on-going companionship with Cristina, Alex, Lalo, Alejandro, and others from Yomol A’tel — a Tseltal cooperative ecosystem we spent 6 weeks visiting in 2022 in Chiapas, Mexico. They are one of a large number of social enterprises that emerged from the Jesuit mission centers in Latin America.
Over the past 10 years has formed the Comparte Network.
My curiosity for 2024:
Will allies form a US Alternative Finance Network that accompanies Latin American Jesuits & their social enterprises?
For years, the Comparte Network (network of Jesuit social service centers across Latin America) has been supported by Fundacion Alboan in the Basque region of Spain.
However, there hasn’t been a similar group in the United States (until Magis Americas).
Fr. Stephen Pitts, SJ and Fr. Emilio Travieso, SJ have helped me build a relationship with Mision de Bachajon in Chiapas that midwifed Yomol A’tel — a social enterprise that has more than $1 million in revenue and supports hundreds of Tseltal indigenous families — anchored by deacon couples. It’s an extraordinary story. It’s a story that I want to help others come to know.
As I’ve begun sharing about Comparte, I’ve realized there are many others — from Sr. Sue to Brent to Drew to Beth to Meg to Sarah to John … — that want to continue accompanying Comparte.
We can learn so much from journeying together.
How do we join with Stephen, Michael, Darcy, ISN, SCU and others who have also built a relationship.
This was the question that a group of alumni from our Spring 2023 Livable Future Investing workshop began to ask as a few members of one of our small groups asked.
Can we build a U.S. allies network to Comparte?
Emilio gives a 3-min overview to Comparte here:
I was so heartened with Alberto and Javier from the Alternative Financing working group of Comparte extended an invitation to me: Would you walk with us as we build a “regenerative investment fund”?
I said I could invite some others and perhaps we could convene a group that might walk together in this process.
Alberto Irezabal, Director of the International Center on the Solidarity Economy at the Ibero – Mexico City’s Jesuit University — joined a group of Livable Future Investing Workshop alumni on August 3, 2023 — for a beautiful encounter.
On August 3, Alberto shared with us these slides about the pre-pilot experience they’re hoping to gain as they build towards a:
“Regenerative Investment Fund for our Common Home”
Compartes-regenerative-fund-1Download
For more context on small holder farmers in Latin America, this article from Fr. Stephen Pitts who has spent 7 years going back and forth to Chiapas to accompany this group provides some bigger picture orientation.
PittsLatinAmericaAgriculture-3Download
For those who want even longer reading, I recommend Emilio Travieso’s PhD thesis from Oxford.
Reason to Hope: Economic, Social and Ecological Virtuous Circles in Chiapas, Mexico
