About Us

Mujeres de Maíz Opportunity Foundation is a small, independent, grassroots non-profit organization established specifically to provide access to education for the young women in a seamstress cooperative centered in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. Our aim is to provide resources to the indigenous women of the cooperative who want to further their education. This includes literacy training, secondary school, vocational courses, or college or university. Scholarships include tuition, room and board, uniforms, transportation for visits home, and books. Other Foundation programs provide funding for educational workshops, eye exams and glasses, We are currently funding Children’s Programs in five communities to strengthen academic skills, develop creativity and learn about sound environmental practices. We listen to the women of the cooperative and support their proposals.

Judith Pasco, Board Chair, taught Spanish at the high school level for twenty years. Her interest in indigenous culture began with a trip to Guatemala in 1990, and since then she has traveled extensively in Mexico, Central and South America. Maya culture and spirituality are continuing sources of fascination. In 2003 she attended a workshop of the Mujeres de Maíz en Resistencia cooperative in San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico. After attending a second workshop in 2005, the idea for this non-profit was born, and Mujeres de Maiz Opportunity Foundation became the educational branch of the cooperative. As of February, 2026, Judith has made over 35 trips to Chiapas.

Read Judith’s book, ““somewhere for my soul to go, a place, a cause, a legacy. Judith Pasco’s account of her personal journey to a non-profit organization.” CLICK HERE:.somewhere for my soul to go

Cathy Van Ruhan, secretary, traveled to Mexico several times in the 1960s and ’70s and studied Spanish in high school and college. When she joined the Peace Corps in 1971, she expected to go to a Spanish-speaking country but was sent to Kenya, where she taught students from kindergarten to adults. She came to Sequim in 1991, where she directed a nonprofit organization and was a newspaper copy editor. After visiting Chiapas with Judith in December 2010, she retired, which enabled her to join the board and share her knowledge and experience. Her two grown daughters live on the East Coast. She has “too many” hobbies and shares her home with a dachshund named Freddy.

Steve Gilchrist, Board Member, first became interested in working with indigenous communities in Latin America when he and his wife were Peace Corps volunteers in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador in the early 1980s. He met Judith and learned about Mujeres de Maiz when his son was a student of hers at Sequim High School. He volunteered at several Mujeres fundraisers and visited some of the scholarship recipients on a trip to Chiapas in 2009 prior to joining its board. He works as a landscape contractor in Sequim and has the unique distinction of being the first male on the board of directors.

Martha Rudersdorf, Board member, lives on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Before retiring she was an innovative and energetic art teacher at the middle school level. She and her husband are bicycle enthusiasts and have traveled extensively internationally with their bikes.

Annual Reports

Mujeres Annual Report 2025

Mujeres Annual Report 2024

Mujeres Annual Report 2023

Mujeres Annual Report 2022

Mujeres Annual Report 2021

Mujeres Annual Report 2020

Mujeres Annual Report 2019

Mujeres Annual Report 2018

Mujeres Annual Report 2017