When I got the phone call, I had no idea what Vital Voices was. All I knew was that I was offered to be the mentee of one of the most talented women in El Salvador, María Eugenia Brizuela de Avila. I was aware of her career and her eclectic contributions to my society—her fame is more than well deserved. She was valedictorian of her high-school class, the first female chancellor of El Salvador, the first female CEO of a private bank in El Salvador with worldwide recognition, HSBC, a caring mother, and truly an asset to my society. It would be an honour and a privilege to work with her as part of the Vital Voices mentorship program.

In our first meeting, she introduced me to Vital Voices and explained that this American NGO believed in investing in emerging women leaders around the world through networking, leadership opportunities and camaraderie. Being now the Head of the Corporate Sustainability Department of HSBC for Latin America, she also explained the financial opportunities available for women through micro-credits. “80% of the micro-credits given in HSBC El Salvador go to women”, she said. “I believe in our women, in their possibilities and capacity to succeed. Would you accept the challenge of finding a way to help them?,” she asked. I am so glad I did.

My job as her mentee is to participate in the launching of the Vital Voices Chapter in Guatemala which would include a Central American network, document my experiences with the other mentees and participate in a three week internship at HSBC in the Corporate Sustainability Department to learn about its dynamics. During the 10 days I spent in Guatemala, I had a lifetime experience. I met cosmopolitan women leaders from all over Central America and the United States who are pivotal political and social figures in their countries. I also met the other Central American mentees, their dreams, their goals, their lives, their inspirations. I was inspired by the story of two young Guatemalan students who had to endure the death of a friend who was killed by a drunk driver, but who established a small enterprise of traditional bracelets made by artisan women with a social message against alcohol abuse. I was exposed to the realities of the majority of Central American women—stories of abused daughters, sisters and wives whose opportunities of personal improvement have been continually thwarted by the social constraints of a society that confines women to the domestic sphere. But I also learned the story of María Pacheco, a woman who had the dream of a green, peaceful and egalitarian Guatemala. María, with Vital Voices’ help, was able to transform the community of Jocotán, once infamous for the pervasive hunger of its inhabitants, into a productive artisan center led by women. She has undergone numerous reforestation projects, but most importantly, she has kept her faith in her Guatemalan women. Her efforts have international recognition and they have opened my eyes into a transformed reality—one in which women around the world will have fair opportunities of entrepreneurship, political positions, and personal growth. A world where being a woman will be an advantage and not a disadvantage.

I returned to El Salvador with a new perspective and fresh energy to help my mentor empower emerging women leaders in El Salvador. I never realized how fortunate I am to be who I am. I never had to deal with the social pressures that haunt many of the women I met in Guatemala, I have access to an education and to the some of the resources I need to follow my goals and passions, and I have a family that supports me. Some of these women had nothing, and out of nothing they created a world of opportunities for themselves and their families through their own effort, wit and pervasiveness. All of the women I met are worthy of respect, honor and admiration. Now, I consider it my duty to use some of my advantages to help those women with scarcer resources than me, but who have an enormous potential that will be a main driving force in the social, economical and political development of El Salvador and the region. I am looking forward to my internship at HSBC with my mentor, since I will have many opportunities to help my society by her side. I thank her and Vital Voices for this unique and life changing experience.