El Salvador

Discover how entrepreneurs are changing the world after pursuing continuous learning and economic growth through innovative education programs.

For over 50 years, TechnoServe has been working to provide youth with the business skills training, mentorship, access to finance, and market linkages to transform their lives and communities. Meet three of these inspirational young entrepreneurs.

Our monthly photo series highlights the beauty and emotion in the lives of our clients around the world. This month, we’re featuring three entrepreneurial success stories.

Graduates from a TechnoServe entrepreneurship program share turning points they experienced in the program, their hopes for the future, and what they’ve been doing since graduating.

Our monthly photo series highlights the beauty and emotion in the lives of our clients around the world. This month, we’re featuring four young people creating better lives for themselves and their communities.

Lily Pacas is an entrepreneur in the coffee business and a fifth-generation coffee producer in El Salvador. Read about her experience growing up in a coffee-growing family, how those experiences led to a career in civil service, and her hopes for women in coffee.

Explore Claudia "La Vaquerita" Alvarado's story in El Salvador, where her recycling initiative fuels the local circular economy, improving solid waste management issues and promoting job creation. Through La Vaquerita, Claudia increases environmental sustainability and provides employment, an important combination for economic growth.

Discover the journey of Gabi Garcia, the manager at Cochecito, a baby clothing boutique in San Salvador. Her experience highlights how small businesses are a lifeline for many young Salvadorians facing limited job opportunities. Through a TechnoServe program creating youth opportunities, small businesses like Cochecito are creating jobs, strengthening communities, and ensuring a brighter future for youth and women in El Salvador.

Rising temperatures, droughts, and extreme weather events are threatening coffee production in El Salvador and around the world. Meet a coffee farmer who used the skills he gained in a TechnoServe program to create change and inspire the next generation of climate advocates.

Hear from a few members of TechnoServe's Gender Champions Network as they discuss the progress they’ve seen in women’s economic empowerment in their respective regions and what work from TechnoServe they’re most excited about.