.png)
Our goal is to give young women in rural areas of South East Asia self and professional development skills in order to increase women empowerment and for these women to have successful lives.
Our story
Women going Beyond is an NGO founded by Alexis Alcalá (founder of InnerCamp community).
Alexis stumbled upon his inspiration to create WGB while working as a life coach in Asia. The more time that he spent there, the more that he found the ever increasing gender equality gap that was prevalent in this part of the world. Seeing the reality of this situation firsthand encouraged him to brainstorm ways that he could help bring about a change to this problem.
As he began to develop WGB, he decided to choose Cambodia as the organization’s first target country because of the striking prevalence of this gender gap in rural Cambodian areas.
With a gender inequality ranking of #93 in the world, according to the World Economic Forum, Cambodia is not a place that allows women to grow as individuals and create better lives for themselves.
Young women are not encouraged to attend school and instead often become victims of human trafficking and prostitution because of their limited options.
Alexis realized that women in South East Asia do not have many of the same opportunities for good careers, which could help break this cycle of injustice towards women in this country.
Plant seeds of change in South East Asia—not only in the minds of the women there, but also in the minds of the men and parents who do not allow these women to flourish as people.
Give these women the tools and resources to do that, to understand that they should and will have the opportunities that they lack. That they can escape the cycle of violence and injustice that surrounds them and find a better life through the development of their own skills and talents.
Executive director
Alexis is the founder of InnerCamp, a community to help its users rediscover and harness the wellness within them. He is also a life coach who teaches people how to tap into their flow of positive energy through what he deems the InnerCamp approach.
Alexis’ work revolves around the guidance of people through their life struggles so naturally, he wanted to look for another way to do this. He found his answer with starting Women Going Beyond. With this organization, he hopes to continue his legacy of giving back but on a grander scale. He wants to bring empowerment and opportunites to the women of South East Asia.
Alexis Alcalá
Our team
"All women should have the power to embrace who they are, define their future and change the world."
Miriam Lange
Education program manager
Miriam is an Educator and performer. She has studied acting and holds a Master Degree in English Studies, and she is a pre-doctoral student in Sociolinguistics. Specifically, she applies the English language learning intersection with gender. Moreover, she puts into use multimodal tools such as theatre, comics, and music in a way to empower students to develop critical English language literacy.
She has been working as an English teacher for the past eight years, in several countries such as Switzerland, Israel, Italy, Brasil, Thailand and now in Spain. Miriam truly believes that education based on sustainability is one of the most powerful mean to change a person’s life, and on a macro scale, to change countries and the world.
Sara Hazzard
Education program manager
Sara is an International Educator and a female empowerment advocate. She has worked to create and support international learning opportunities as a means to broaden academic experiences for young people.
She believes education, especially girls’ education, is the key to to witnessing societies flourish. Sara’s commitment to community development projects led her to join Women Going Beyond.
Her goal is to design and develop an innovative curriculum that will enhance the lives and communities of the people we serve.
Bridget Gorham
Blogger
Bridget graduated from Boston College with a degree in Political Science and Spanish. As she delved into topics such as the euphemistically-named “comfort women” forced into Japanese military-run brothels during World War Two, the symbolism of the burqa under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, forced marriage, human trafficking, and the lack of girls in school around the world, she was struck by the sheer complacency surrounding such systemic discrimination.
Following her graduation, Bridget earned a grant to launch a pilot educational summer program to foster the empowerment of young girls in Cusco, Perú, and her experience in South America continues to serve as an emblematic reminder of what is at stake, and why we must continue to fight for a more equal and just world. Bridget is thrilled to have been accepted to the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she plans to pursue a Master of Science in Human Rights.
Giovanna Arecchi
Local partnership manager
Originally from the United States, Giovanna Arecchi now lives in the sunny south of Spain. Having earned her Bachelor's degree in Global Studies from a traveling program which took her through Central America and South Asia,
Giovanna is passionate about ensuring that marginalized people, and especially women of color, have the resources and opportunities needed to live safe and fulfilling lives. She is excited to work towards this goal as the Local Partnerships Manager for Women Going Beyond.
Beatriz Tomé
