The Pulsera Project

“The 990 is prepared by an independent accounting firm. Each officer reviews the form 990 individually, then comments or asks questions prior to filing.”

“All board members are covered under the policy. Board members are required to report any conflict or potential conflict. Determination and review of any conflict not reported is made by the full board. Board members with conflict are required to recuse themselves from discussion/voting on that matter.”

“Governing documents and the conflict of interest policy are available upon request.”

“The pulsera project has changed our fiscal year in 2023 to end june 30 rather than december 31 in order to follow the school year rather than the calendar year. This change better reflects the fact that most of our income & investments are thought about in terms of school semesters rather than a calendar year. This write-up reflects program service accomplishments in the first half of 2023. Our next year-end review and 990 will be submitted after june 30, 2024, when our first full year on the new fiscal year timeline ends. In 2023, the pulsera project continued to focus on developing our three core components: 1) employing guatemalan & nicaraguan pulsera artisans 2) educating u.s. Students through the sale of pulseras 3) investing pulsera sale proceeds in central american communities school collaborations & educational program the pulsera project's mission would not be possible without the volunteer efforts of thousands of teachers and students across the u.s. Each year, whose pulsera sales create meaningful employment for artisans in central america and raise funds that generate impact and support programs in guatemala and nicaragua, all while learning about social impact, solidarity, fair trade, and global citizenship in the classroom. Our catalog of curriculum materials continued to be a vital resource for spanish teachers who look to the pulsera project to expand the educational resources available to their students. In the first half of 2023, we were fortunate to work with 481 schools hosting pulsera sales across the country, some having hosted sales more than 10 times since the beginning of the project, while we welcomed 157 schools hosting pulsera events for the first time. Each event was brought to life by the enthusiasm and hard work of the classes, clubs, and school communities that dedicated their time to the project. We appreciate each student, teacher, and volunteer who helped along the way. In total, the pulsera project has now collaborated with 3,628 schools, and with the help of many multi-year school partnerships, 7,288 pulsera project school events have been hosted by students and teachers since 2009. Educational partnerships we're grateful to be continuing our fruitful collaborations with vista higher learning and the national spanish exam in 2023, both of whom are sponsoring scholarships for teachers to travel with us on our summer trip to guatemala. Partnerships with these groups as well as with aatsp, the sociedad honoraria hispnica, and sociedad honoraria amistad have brought an influx of pulsera sales our way in the first half of the year. The artisans of guatemala & nicaragua the first half of 2023 saw the project continuing to build & nurture our relationships with the 200+ artisans who make pulseras for the project. Artisans come from eighteen different groups & cooperatives fourteen in guatemala and four in nicaragua. In the first half of 2023 we spent $199,636 purchasing fair trade pulseras and purses from these artisan groups and cooperatives. That's vital income that went to supporting artisans and their families, which total over a thousand people. Pulsera sales impact from the money raised by school pulsera sales, the pulsera project invests in our three components artisan employment, impact investment, and the u.s. Service-learning educational program. In the first half of 2023 the project invested a total of $242,197 in our fair trade employment ($199,636) and social impact programs ($42,561) in central america. Beyond our fair trade employment program, funds were used for impact investments in our partner organizations circula ($5,000), asogen ($8,700), asomujerdi ($1,200), imap ($5,580), waricha ($7,000), adisa ($5,000), and creamos ($5,000). These groups do essential work for their communities, constituting a range of projects including environmental sustainability and permaculture, women's rights advocacy and workforce development, domestic violence shelter services, youth leadership prog”