This piece is part of our ongoing series, Behind the Scenes of Our Global Work, highlighting the local partners who help power our impact around the world.
Some partnerships begin with a contract.
Others begin with a leader.
Rise Up Together’s partnership with Juntos, Una Experiencia Compartida A.C., began with both.
Long before Juntos became Rise Up Together’s employer of record and local partner in Mexico, its Director of Operations, Alejandra García Muñiz, joined Rise Up Together’s inaugural Mexico Accelerator in 2018.
At the time, she was already an advocate for disability rights and the co-founder of Juntos, an organization dedicated to supporting people with disabilities across San Luis Potosí. What she didn’t know then was that the experience would shape not only her own advocacy, but the future of Juntos – and eventually, a new chapter in Rise Up Together’s work in Mexico.
“I entered Rise Up Together without imagining the relationship we would have in the future and the impact it would have on my life,” Alejandra reflected.
Rise Up Together’s Accelerator training helped strengthen Alejandra’s approach to advocacy, expanding Juntos’ work beyond direct services to focus on systems change. With funding and support from Rise Up Together, Alejandra and Juntos successfully advocated for a policy advancing the rights and protections of approximately 200,000 women and girls with disabilities in San Luis Potosí – creating a model that would later inform similar efforts in other states across Mexico.
Building on that success, Juntos also developed a disability rights protocol for government institutions to help ensure people with disabilities – particularly women – can access public services with dignity and respect.
For Alejandra, those milestones reinforced the importance of pairing community leadership with policy advocacy.
“As director of an organization, it added a perspective that our work at Juntos needed to become more strategic,” she shared. “Our efforts also needed to include generating structural change through modifications in law and public policy.”
That shift helped strengthen Juntos’ advocacy approach while contributing to policy changes benefiting women and girls with disabilities in San Luis Potosí and beyond.
Over the years, both organizations have continued to grow.
Rise Up Together expanded its network of leaders, became an independent nonprofit, and continued investing in local leadership around the world. Juntos likewise broadened its reach, advancing advocacy efforts beyond San Luis Potosí into other parts of Mexico while strengthening its own organizational capacity.
“I’ve seen Rise Up Together grow over the last few years,” Alejandra said. “At the same time, we’ve evolved as an organization, developing projects that have gone beyond San Luis Potosí and influenced public policy in other states [in Mexico].”
For Alejandra, watching those journeys unfold together has been deeply meaningful.
“Witnessing this evolution – and being the link in this new alliance – has been one of the greatest privileges of my career as a social activist.”
When Rise Up Together began looking for an employer of record in Mexico, Juntos emerged as a natural partner. The relationship had already been built through years of trust, shared values, and collaboration.
“From the moment I received the call to propose Juntos as Rise Up Together’s employer of record, I was convinced we were ready,” Alejandra recalled.
Today, that partnership extends far beyond operational support.
As Rise Up Together’s employer of record in Mexico, Juntos helps create the foundation that allows Rise Up Leaders across the country to focus on advancing change in their communities. At the same time, Alejandra’s lived experience as a Rise Up Leader brings a unique perspective to the partnership – one grounded in firsthand understanding of the model and the impact it can have.
“My role as a Rise Up Leader has been key to our relationship,” she reflected. “You’ve witnessed my growth as a leader, the social impact of the projects I direct, and Juntos’ growth over the years.”
At the heart of the partnership is a shared set of values.
Alejandra points to collaboration, diversity, passion, and transparency as principles that have helped sustain the relationship over time.
“We believe the changes the world requires won’t come from one person or one organization,” she said. “Working together is fundamental.”
That belief continues to shape what comes next.
As Rise Up Together and Juntos continue supporting leaders across Mexico, Alejandra is most excited about seeing more advocates discover their own potential – just as she did.
“My hope is that with more leaders, change will come more quickly,” she reflected, “and that we won’t have to wait generations for everyone to feel that they belong.”
For Rise Up Together’s Americas Program Manager Patzia Martinez Montes de Oca, the partnership with Juntos reflects what’s possible when investment in one leader grows into investment in an entire movement.
“As our work in Mexico expanded, we recognized the need for an employer of record to support our growing operations,” reflected Patzia. “We were pleased to receive a proposal from Juntos, an organization we had previously collaborated with successfully. Throughout the selection process, it became clear that Juntos had the systems, processes, and expertise needed to support our work in Mexico. What made this partnership even stronger was Alejandra’s involvement. As a Rise Up Leader, her deep understanding of our mission, combined with her organizational leadership, reinforced our confidence that we had chosen the right partner. Her perspective affirmed that we were moving forward in the right direction.”
Our partnership with Juntos is a reminder that lasting change doesn’t happen overnight.
Sometimes it begins with one leader. And years later, that same leader can help create opportunities for countless others to lead, advocate, and transform their communities.
