Educating Women and Girls.
Strengthening Communities. Changing Lives.
The BFB Foundation was founded in 2011 by Christine Burns-Fazzi and business partner, Rich Brock, the two Principals of Burns-Fazzi, Brock & Associates (BFB) in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their goal was to help developing communities break the cycle of poverty by providing educational opportunities for girls and women, based on their belief that a woman’s dedication to sustaining her family will ultimately affect the rest of the community.
Why Guatemala?
Guatemala is a country in transition. Since its 36-year-long civil war ended in 1996, more than half of the population lives below the national poverty line, and 13% of the population lives in extreme poverty. Among Guatemala’s indigenous groups (38% of the population) those numbers climb even higher, with 73% living below the poverty line and 28% living in extreme poverty.
In Guatemala, educating a woman has a huge multiplier effect since opportunities are so limited.
Women spend 90% of their earned income on their families while men spend only 30%-40%.
Source: Clinton Global Initiative
In Guatemala the average indigenous teenage girl has obtained only 3.5 years of education.
Source: Orozco and Valdivia 2017
Only 10% of indigenous girls who live in rural communities are enrolled in secondary school, less than 1% continue on to university
Source: Global Giving/Common Hope
BFB Foundation in Pictures
