About Us

 In 2009, Gina Chavez and Jodi Granado left their comfy lives in Central Texas for cold showers and chicken buses in Central America; to live out of a suitcase in El Salvador, where volcanoes and poverty loom large; to teach dramatic teenage girls in a gang-dominated barrio for eight months. They struggled, laughed, loved and received lots and lots of hugs.

But the mission didn’t end when they landed stateside in the Summer of 2010. Gina and Jodi immediately established Niñas Arriba, a college fund that offers full scholarships to a private, Catholic university for girls they lived with in Soyapango, as well as a 6-month paid internship upon graduation. Meet our graduates and students!

Thank you for your amazing support. These girls are wonderful and deserve every opportunity that we are afforded here in the United States. Thank you for joining us on this journey to bridge communities and changes lives through education and love!

- Gina y Jodi