Some wonderful updates from our blog and elsewhere regarding our work (of both the Sustainable Preservation Initiative and ESCALA)
Read our Blog for Updates and More
We put the ESCALA Business School online, allowing us to provide our curriculum and scale at an accelerated rate in spite of the pandemic and economic climate.
As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads, it has left the world's poorest and most vulnerable people at greatest risk - including many of the entrepreneurs trained by SPI in Peru, Tanzania, Bulgaria, and Guatemala. However, thanks to your tremendous support for SPI’s COVID-19 Relief Fund, entrepreneurs and artisans now have the resources to step up as local leaders, keeping their families and communities safe.
For these vulnerable small business owners, new government restrictions to curb the pandemic mean less or no income at all in the coming weeks. Although these entrepreneurs are doing everything to adapt to this evolving situation, most do not have the resources to do so. Your support could be their lifeline.
When I began to study archeology, we concentrated on hard research. Now, thirty years later, we realize that if the community does not participate, it is useless to continue doing archeology. I think through archeology we are opening spaces for these women, for these people, to have a chance to improve their quality of life.
Meet Filomena Pingo Tejada, one of the traditional weavers involved in SPI’s Chotuna-Chornancap project in Peru. Together with the Chotuna-Chornancap Site Museum and the Brüning National Museum, SPI is helping the artisans like Filomena develop their experience as weavers into a sustainable and profitable business which offers a real income and preserves the site in doing so.
We couldn’t have done any of it without you! With 2020 around the corner, we ask for your support once again so SPI can continue to elevate women and other marginalized entrepreneurs globally. If you make a gift by January 10th, your donation will be matched!
A recent study highlighted that only 1.6% of all charitable giving goes to supporting women and girls. Women face countless social and economic barriers that bar them from financial agency and self-sufficiency. Our business school model tackles those barriers directly by building women-owned businesses that provide dignified income opportunities where people can earn living wages.
Congratulations to the first graduating class of entrepreneurs from SPI's ESCALA (ESCuela de negocios para la Avance de Latino América) Business School!
Many of humanity's most important heritage sites co-exist with some of the world's poorest people. These communities damage their sites to survive economically because they have no alternative. Until now...

On October 17th, ESCALA and Sector3SVG, together with partners USIL Ventures and Probide, cohosted the ESCALA Alumni Networking and Pitch Competition Event at the Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, a leading university in Peru.
Over 140 entrepreneurs from the ESCALA alumni community in Peru participated in finance workshops and business pitch rounds guided by over 80 consultants from McKinsey & Company.