Sara Mijares

"Ambassador of the Mayan culture." Councilman Gil Cedillo, City of Los Angeles District 1, Council of Los Angeles

Visionary, enterprising, fighter, hard-working, dreamer, a modern pilgrim from the Mayan is self-determined. Daughter of a guava farmer, a field worker, and chef, and a teacher in Yucatan. A worthy representative of the rights of indigenous people, women and children, and a proud granny.

Sara is originally from Muna, Yucatan, Mexico. At age 15, she came to the United States to study, leaving behind three brothers and her mother. Her father was a bracero in the Irvine fields.

She is the mother of three children and four grandchildren. She earned a Certificate in Transnational Relations from Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business / Latin American, studied International Relations at Cal State LA and Vocational Education at Cal State Long Beach, and his high school Belmont High School. Secondary School in Muna, Yucatan, Mexico.

Sara is passionate about art, culture, dance, the preservation, and defense of ethnic groups and the inclusion and participation of women as agents of social change.

Community Area:

Sara is one of the pioneers of Yucatecan Mayan organized clubs in Southern California and is president/founder of the Mundo Maya Foundation in March 2000, an organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Mayan culture in all its expressions: education, art, culture, science and technology, literature, dance, tourism, protection of the environment, traditions and ceremonies. In 2020 they celebrate their 20th Anniversary.

Sara is the co-author of the 3x1 programs in Yucatan and of instituting the "Yucatecan Migrant Day in Yucatan on December 28, 2004. It is currently celebrated on December 18, the "International Migrant Day" declared by the United Nations.

Due to the visible participation of Yucatecans in the Parade of the Mexican National Holidays, the Mexican Civic Patriotic Committee designated 2012 with the title of "Year of Mayan culture."
In 2019, the parade was designated as "Year of the Indigenous Villages". The Mundo Maya Foundation is an organization that has had a presence at the transnational level. Due to her community commitment, Sara has been invited and has participated in cross-border and local conferences.

In 2011 Sara participated in the IV Iberoamerican Forum of the Iberoamerican Foundation for Social Legal Studies (FIBED) -Madrid Siglo 21, presenting in Madrid, Spain, the theme of "The preservation of indigenous roots in California".

She has participated in indigenous ceremonies in Paris (2011) and the 1st Conference on Advanced Education in Mexico City (2006), presented by the California-Mexico Project-Cal State University, Long Beach.

In 2010, Gustavo Dudamel, director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, formed part of the Welcome Committee. Sara was a member of the Sister Cities Committee, Los Angeles-Mexico City.
As President of the Federation of Yucatecan Clubs-USA, she was a great promoter of the Vote of Mexicans Abroad. She was also an observer of the 2006 elections in Mexico for MOCE and the United Nations.

Sara was a Director of the CCIME (Advisory Council of Mexicans Abroad) 2009-2011, an honorary position with the Secretary of Foreign Relations of the Federal Government of Mexico.

In 2010, the CCIME was based in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, where Sara's brother lives for more than four decades. Sara continues to support and fight for the human and civil rights of our immigrant community, civic participation, promotion of culture, the right to education, access to health services, and comprehensive immigration reform for our communities in both Mexico and the USA.

As the Mundo Maya Foundation, in 2018, Sara and her board of directors instituted MAYA WORLD DAY at the Levitt Pavilion at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles on the 2nd Sunday of August.

In 2020 the 3rd Mayan World Day Celebration will be VIRTUAL on Sunday, August 9, 2020. These events are free.

She is considered a "Mayan seed planter," remembering its Mayan ancestors' legacy that is still valid in the social, physical, mathematical, geometry, astrology, archeology, the heritage of the calendar, zero, and more.

For Sara, each awakening is the beginning of a new era. Individuals have the opportunity to transform ourselves and be better human beings with our sisters and brothers on this beautiful planet, called "Mother Earth", our temporary home.

Labor Area:

Sara is an Advisor for Non-profit Organizations, Cultural, Artistic, Tourism and Business Promoter.
Sara has been a Community Collaboration Specialist for Census 2020, Director of the House of the Federal District in California, Director of the LIDER Program (Immigrant Leadership for Responsible Educational Development) of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Education). This program specializes in providing leadership training, civic engagement, and business certification for leadership and the immigrant community.

More than 300 Mexican and Central American leaders benefited from this program, and more than 5,000 people participated in its foreclosure prevention and financial education workshops. For more than two decades, she was a businesswoman in private post-secondary education, graphic arts, printing, and more.

Sara is a great believer that the secret of happiness and progress is "through education and training." The more prepared and informed we are, the more accurate the decisions we make, and the higher the benefit and impact on our community as immigrants in the USA.

Acknowledgments:

For her business, artistic and community involvement, Sara has received numerous recognitions including:

• "Forged of the Year-2018" by Los Madrugadores LA,
• "Featured Woman 2013 / Woman of Excellence" for her work as a cultural promoter, the newspaper La Opinión,
• "Triunfadora Latina" - May 2013 by Triunfadores Latinos / Finding Productions - Mundo FOX 22,
• "Distinguished Mexican" by Country Program of the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles,
• "Business Woman - January 2005" by the NLBWA (National Latina Business Women Association ",
• "Woman of the Year" by the Mexican American Bar Association and multiple senatorial, assembly, and congressional awards from the US government.
• Distinguished recognition by the State of Yucatan, Mexico.
• Received a Thank You letter from the President of Mexico in 2011, for her outstanding work preserving the Mayan's Heritage.

Contact Information: 

Sara Z. Mijares - Senior Consultant Nonprofits, Strategic Planning - Business - Protocol , Tourism, Art & Cultural Promoter

Email: sarazmijares@gmail.com

Cell:  562-505-6023