Buena Semilla nurtures the health, wellbeing and self-determination of Indigenous and other marginalised communities in Guatemala.

They do this by co-creating solutions to the health problems faced by these communities, building psychosocial support systems that draw upon and strengthen existing care networks. Their peer-led support groups, including their Women’s Circles, empower participants to become agents of change in their lives and communities.

What Others Can Learn

Buena Semilla is grounded in indigenous approaches to mental health and wellbeing. Their work builds upon existing spaces of care in communities rather than inserting “new” services that may not be culturally relevant.

Partnership With Ember

Buena Semilla was stuck in a funding loop of moving from one research grant to another, making it hard to expand their existing work or think long-term. The goal of our partnership was to develop a more sustainable funding model and increase Buena Semilla’s visibility globally.

We worked together to identify alternative ways of funding their work, beyond academic grants, and developed a new fundraising strategy to pursue these. Securing funding from new sources required that Buena Semilla have a strong identity as an organisation, clearly articulated for non-academic audiences. Through multiple rounds of design, we co-created a the project’s new brand identity and found ways to visually represent their approach. We then supported the Buena Semilla team in creating a new website with compelling and up-to-date content showcasing their work.

To further support Buena Semilla in building their profile, particularly beyond the academic sphere, Ember showcased this innovation as a story of impact at the Time To Act on Global Mental Health event held in September 2018 at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. This was the first ever UN event dedicated to mental health.